


The Path of Redemption

by lemonsnail



Category: Rapunzel (Fairy Tale), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010), tangled - Fandom
Genre: AUNT ADIRA, Aunt/Big Sister Cassandra, Big Brother Eugene, Big Brother/Uncle Lance, Big Sister Rapunzel, Cassunzel is hinted at but not much more than what we got in S2, F/F, F/M, Found Family, How Do I Tag, I think we should normalize hating Andrew, Lets gooo!, M/M, Not to sound basic but, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Season 2 Varian AU, Slow Updates, Varian and Eugene Dark Kingdom, Varian is healing, bare with me, for fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28245984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonsnail/pseuds/lemonsnail
Summary: You can't expect a child to grow when they're confined in a cell. Shouldn't you feel the wind in your hair for a moment?
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 12
Kudos: 44





	1. PROLOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a huge project I literally started on a whim but after lots of consideration and love from my friends, I see that I really do want to put my own spin on this and create something. So after lots of work, rewatching, writing and typing, here we are! The very beginning of this crazy adventure.

“Next stop: nowhere…”

The room was cold. It was all cold, really. Varian pushed onto the tips of his toes as he looked out of the rusty bars, heaving a shaky sigh. The sky was bright blue. The soft breezes that infiltrated the cell and the comforting touch from Ruddiger were the only thing keeping him calm. He had to assume everybody was happier, and much safer, without him. The weather outdoors reminded him of when he was little and helped his father with the farming. Or well, tried to help. Varian’s body was never built for heavy lifting and using all of his physical strength. He’s always been the one with logical decisions and using all his brain power to get through tough spots. Maybe one day he’d be stronger, physically and mentally. His father always chuckled, reassuring him that he was able to do the work on his own, but appreciated the help. 

“‘Cause I’m sitting here in this dirty jail cell.”

His father...if Quirin hadn’t tried to solve the rock problem on his own-- If Varian hadn’t tried to solve the rock problem on his own…

Maybe then he wouldn’t be cooped up into a jail cell. He wouldn’t be freezing all day and night and the only light he got was from the sun barely shining through dirty bars. 

Maybe then he wouldn’t be so scared because he’s heard that he’s going to be sharing a cell with somebody in just about a week. 

“Next stop: nowhere.”

Maybe then he wouldn’t be alone anymore. He’s only ever had himself and his father. Then Ruddiger snuck into his heart one day, changing his life. Then the meeting with Rapunzel and Cassandra in which he also got to meet Flynn-- Eugene. The three meant more to him than almost anybody. He felt like he had real and true friends. Of course, they hadn’t known each other for long, but he really thought the three were unique. They didn’t understand his work all the time, but they tried, really they did. They supported him and wanted the best for him. 

And then he had to go around, poking his nose into issues, and ruined it all.

“And my fate’s growing darker with every second spent here…”

Varian shouldn’t have tried to put the rock situation all on himself but..His father lied to the king about how bad it had been getting. Varian was sure that his small town would practically die off from the situation. And he hadn’t heard anything from the capital--so of course the impulsive fourteen year old had to do something.

He just wanted to be a real hero. He wanted to make his town, his friends, his father proud. Why couldn’t things have worked out? Why did Rapunzel have to break her promise? Why couldn’t he trust nor be trusted?

This whole situation proved to Varian that he should be alone and friendless. He’d never had friends and for so long he was practically content with the fact! But once he met Rapunzel, Eugene and Cass...He never wanted to lose them...He knew that nothing would make him as joyful as they had..This all proved that if he made any relationship with another person, he would ruin it. His bottled up sadness and anger destroys everything in front of him. He can no longer go back to the people he loves--wants to love. He has to stay away…

Maybe a jail cell was the right place for him. Varian’s final destination and real home…

“No-o-where…”

Varian pushed his back against the freezing brick wall, slinking towards the hard ground. He pulled his knees up against his chest as he curled up. The boy tried to hold back tears but ultimately failed. Heavy, shaking breathing racking his body as his walls eventually broke. Ruddiger pushed his head into the freckled hand in an attempt to say “I’m here for you.”

After some time, Varian couldn’t tell due to nothing around to signify time, his breathing slowed down. Tears still slowly fell down his sun kissed cheeks. His thumb rubbed onto Ruddiger’s head, pushing his ear. The raccoon smiled at the young boy, causing Varian to smile back. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Rapunzel?” A low and deep voice boomed from the door. Varian’s blood ran cold hearing the voice. Almost on instinct, he pushed himself into the back corner of the room as if he were an animal. He didn’t want this man around him; not now, not after what has happened recently.

The soft pitter of bare feet accompanied the sound of refined shoes hitting the ground. The sound got closer and closer to where Varian had been cowering. A peppy and upbeat voice spoke, “I’m sure, dad. You have to be able to trust me to trust him.” The older man gave the girl a look of slight disapproval. The younger girl only chuckled. “Dad...I really messed up back there; we both did. I want to make it up to him and help him. Just give me a few minutes, okay?”

A soft huff came from the royal man as he gave the girl a look of approval. “Thanks.” She smiled, quickly turning around. The patterning of bare feet came up to Varian’s cell bars. Rapunzel gently wrapped her hands around the bars in front of her, kind smile never faltering even after she saw the state the alchemist was in. “Varian?” Her tone was hushed in an attempt to calm the boy down. 

All he could do was look at her and muffle a one word sentence that came out harsh. “What?” 

In all honesty, Varian wasn’t sure where he stood with Rapunzel, nor where she stood with him. She had broken her promise with him and now his father is presumably dead. And because Rapunzel didn’t defend him against a blatant lie everybody assumes he attacked her. It felt as if she used him, like he wasn’t needed because he wasn’t a convenience anymore. And now because she wanted a villain, he’s in jail and everybody hates him. Wasn’t this what they all asked for, and if so, why does Varian of all people have to hurt?

“Well,” Rapunzel began, “I’ve been doing lots of thinking lately, about the rock situation. And I figured that the only way for me to discover how to fix this, to fix everything, is to follow them. I feel like it’s my destiny and that I need them to lead me to the source. So I asked Eugene and Cass if they’d like to come along and help me out, which they immediately agreed...Lance and Hook Foot are going to come along as well! Though...I realized somebody was missing.”

“Oh yeah?” Varian spat out his words--they felt gross in his mouth. When he spoke to Rapunzel it was full of nothing but spite and pure, unbridled anger. “And who exactly would that be?”

The princess hadn’t even stuttered her words as she simply spoke, “You.” Varian’s eyes shot up in the direction of the purple gown and long, blonde hair. His eyebrows lifted high up, showing the shock on his face. 

After everything she did to him, she has the audacity to ask for him to join her?

After everything he did to her….she still wants to be around him?

The hair-stripe boy’s eyes looked around in an attempt to piece reality together. Rapunzel saw the confusion on his face, and in an attempt to clear it up, she continued to speak. “I know, it may seem weird and a very out there question but…” Her brown brows fell down, showing the true anxiety she had been covering up. “We both did awful, awful things, Varian. I told you that you could come to me in any situation, I didn’t confront my father about the rocks properly, I didn’t defend you or your reasoning and I seemingly broke a promise-”

“You did break a promise, Rapunzel.” Varian raised his voice, “My father is probably dead and I have to live with the conscience that I did that to him! Put yourself in my shoes for a minute! You’re the girl who has everything and I’m….I’m the boy who has nobody. Think about your words before you speak because we both know that could be the death of you.”

Her grip on the bars in front of her tightened as she tried to continue her wording. “I understand, really I do. If I had done that to my father, I’d be devastated. It really must hurt..” As her eyes drifted off to her own parent, she pulled her green irises to the freckled boy once more. “But Varian, I may be able to help. We may be able to save your father. Whatever the black rocks lead us to, we may find a way to free Quirin and-”

The alchemist stood up as he snapped, “Don’t joke about these things, Rapunzel!” Tears were falling down his face once more. “My father is dead! Dead! He’s gone! And your stupid little idea of you being some amazing and heroic protagonist isn’t going to get you out of your responsibilities! You can’t just say ‘I have magic hair and am fighting evil rocks so I get to stop holding myself responsible for ruining a child’s life!’ That’s not how it works!” Ruddiger felt like he had shrunk as he hid under the makeshift bed.

Rapunzel’s shoulders tightened. “You’re right. I’m not doing that anymore. I know I hurt you, I hurt your father. You don’t ever have to forgive me. I haven’t even properly apologized yet, I know you won’t want to hear it at the moment and I understand.’ The blonde let go of the bars, dusting her hands off onto her skirt. “This time will be different. I’m not going to break the promise I made to you. I want to help you through this, Varian. Whether you come or not, I’m not giving up on you...We’re going to be leaving in a few days.” She softly sighed, bringing a bright smile to her freckled face once more. “I’ll check on you every day until then.” As she turned away, she spoke once more. 

“And my offer still stands, Varian. Everything I said, it was the truth. You don’t have to believe me right now, tomorrow, or ever, but I promise that I’m not giving up. I’m never going to give up on my friends.” 

The long hair grew smaller and smaller as Rapunzel had walked away from the cage. For a moment all Varian could do was stand there in silence, legs and hands shaking from how angry he was. Friends...How was she able to say that so nonchalantly? Varian had almost killed her! It was all too much at the moment and quite frankly, the boy was overwhelmed. He decided to sit on the object he could call a bed, and try to figure out his emotions.

The thing is, the princess didn’t lie. Every single day around the same time she came down to the prison and paid a visit to the young boy. She talked about anything new that happened in the kingdom whether it was something minor like a painting she had created or something big like a new business starting. Rapunzel talked to the boy as if they’d been friends forever and gossiped for hours on end. And every day she would ask if he wished to come along and for five days straight he immediately would press consecutive “No”s. On the sixth day the princess had visited she had a different outfit. 

She wore a light purple, short sleeve blouse that was complemented by a black waistcoat with dark magenta stripes that aligned where the coat connected. Her skirt was burgundy on the sides and back while the front and center part was a softer violet. The ensemble was put together with the two belts Rapunzel had around her waist as well as the small, pink bird that tied her braid in her hair together. And still…

Varian chuckled as he eyed the bare feet in front of his locked door, “No shoes?” 

“It lets me feel the world underneath my feel, thank you very much!” The princess smiled, “I wanted to come down here and let you know that we’re going to be leaving shortly. I wanted to say that...I’m gonna miss you a lot and I’ll be sure to see you when we get back-”

The alchemist interrupted the woman’s statement with a softer smile, “Does your offer still stand?”

The girl’s eyes opened wide from the question, smile never faltering. “Sure does...Whatdya say? You want to come along?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d really like to.” The freckled boy’s cheeks warmed up, smile growing bit by bit, showing his front teeth. Rapunzel motioned her hand to Pete, who was on guard duty. Quickly she took the keys from the man, releasing the younger boy. She opened her arms for a hug, but all Varian had done in response was lift Ruddiger off of the ground and awkwardly grin at her trying to hint that he wasn’t that close to her at the current moment. Grasping a hold of the moment, the blonde lowered her arms, twinkling in her eyes never leaving.

“We can make a quick stop to Old Corona so you can grab some stuff of your own and then we’ll hit the road; if that’s okay with you!”

The blue striped boy looked to his empty cell, and back to the honey blonde woman. “Yeah…Yeah that sounds like a plan.”


	2. BEYOND THE CORONA WALLS (PART I OF II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the road is hard to start on, but after moments, you enjoy the high life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for descriptions of spiders near the end (Not too graphic)! Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the ride!

The bright, open sky brought in the shining sun that illuminated the world around the group; clouds barely covering the blazing star. The grass was greener than anything they’d had seen before, brighter than the first blades the flower child had ever seen. The trees around were many different shades, all showing signs of pure healthiness. Everything out here felt so alive and free, even the princess and ex-thief had been more lively than usual. 

Softly, the air blew by once again. It was the only thing cooling Varian off at the current moment. The sun had heated him up due to the black cloak he covered himself with. Before he had left Old Corona, Varian decided to take it as a driving force and something to remember his father with, in case they didn’t come back; and if they did it was going to be a long while. The cloak was a deep blue, almost black, held together with a circular symbol that had three dashing coming from the top right of it and covered up almost his entire new outfit. Rapunzel had decided to get an outfit ready for him ahead of time due to the fact that if he did join the group he would smell like body odor and many more nasty smells mixed together due to the fact he was in a cold and damp prison cell.

It was a nice outfit, Varian had to admit. It was a long sleeve, spruce blue shirt with a collar and patch on his forearm just like his old teal one. Since the sleeves were too long, he rolled them up for the shirt to fit properly, stopping at his elbows. It showed off his freckled arms that were complimented with his same gloves. On top of that, Varian had a soft, slate grey waistcoat with a collar that also stuck out. The lining on the edge of the color was creamy and aligned with the golden buttons that closed his vest. The coat was tucked into pants that matched the color of the vest’s lining. The bottom hems of the trousers were tucked into brown boots with lighter brown straps. Finally, he had a mini waist apron that was held together with thin black fabric, creating a tie in the front. He even grabbed a small and vibrant orange bandana for Ruddiger. The raccoon enjoyed the feeling of the fabric as he found his furry friend feeling it between his paws often. 

The ride had been fairly calm. Other than a few bumpy roads, rainfalls and loud snoring from Hook Foot and Lance, it was quiet. Which for the most part was very nice for Varian. When he mentioned it, Cass had even agreed. The two enjoy the silence as much as they enjoy excitable outbursts. Neither of them showed it but the appreciation of similar emotional attributes really helped the other out in situations. 

Cassandra sat in the front of the mobile home, as if she were the driver. She’s done a great deal leading everybody in the right direction and keeping others on task. Not once has Varian had a doubt in his mind about her. He wished he could contribute more to the group, really he did, but at the moment..it was too much for him.

He took in the scent of the passing sunflowers. They were one of his favorite flowers, reminding him of the bright sun, his home and better days to come. They always seemed to face in direction, never letting anything get in their way, no matter the cost. He found them quite admirable in all reality. It may just be a silly plant to others, but to him, it was something he aspired to change like. 

He chuckled at the hummingbird that attempted to enjoy the peace of the flowers, almost sensing a smile from the bird. It quickly flew away as Rapunzel opened her door, bursting into tune.

“I wanna break every rule and cross every line. Whoo-hoo!” She cheered as she ran into the field. Rapunzel, in a way, was similar to the flowers. She faced her opponents head on, never batting her eye, showing nothing but courage and leading others to do the same. She faced her one goal, never faltering. 

As they passed by a field of emerald blades, the princess ran out into it all, running through and feeling the world beneath her feet. It was something everybody had to remember but this truly was one of the first times she was out in the world. The flowers had tickled her toes, sending giggles to fall from her lips.

Later that night, as Cass was getting Maximus and Fidella settled for well-deserved sleep, the blonde pulled out a telescope she had gotten from her father. Quickly, she pulled herself up on top of the caravan, settling down to look out at the stars. After a brief look, she tilted over the edge, looking at the freckled boy and offering a hand. Varian barely had held on before she pulled him up. 

The sight was beautiful; from the hues of purple and blue to the stars dancing in the sky. The alchemist’s voice was hushed and quiet, barely above a whisper. “We can see the Canis Minor from this view…”

Rapunzel beamed, seeing the stars reflect in the baby blue eyes. “I wanna show all the stars how stars ought to shine.” She sang. As she looked through the telescope, a shining dot zoomed past. Pascal made a small noise from excitement and leaped up to the girl’s face.

Once the object was out of view, the hair-striped boy and honey blonde looked to each other and smiled. The two excitedly shouted at the same time.

“A meteor!”  
“A shooting star!”

After their burst of excitement had slightly faded, Rapunzel laughed, bliss never leaving her voice. “A meteor, huh?” And all Varian was able to do in response was shyly look away, grin barely leaving his face.

As the sun rose, the princess was the first to leave the trailer. Running out into the wilderness, headstrong. Seeing a tree with a base larger than average, she wrapped her hair around the bole, lifting herself up to a sturdy branch. “I want to do as I please and knock the world to its knees-- and go wherever the breeze is blowing!” Carefully, Pascal climbed to her palm as the two were enveloped with the soft wind and colorful greenery. “Next stop, anywhere!” The sun had been shining as bright as yesterday, and it was time to get a move on. 

Their first stop of the day had been around more black rocks. Rapunzel had stated that she wished to investigate them while the boys made a quick pitstop to stretch and Cass helped with their morning breakfast, noting that she would return to help the raven haired girl shortly. 

While the flower child was walking, she found a glistening lake with a solemn bear, helping itself to breakfast as well. As she continued her song, she pulled out her journal from the teal bag by her side, “Got a whole wide world to see; nothing’s stopping me!” As if time was testing her, she painted the brown bear, happily with all the fish in the lake.

Varian had walked around, keeping away from the sharp foundations that jolted out of the grass. He was quite terrified of the harm they caused on people mentally and physically, as there was no way to tell where they would shoot from next.

Before he had known it, Rapunzel was off again. Even though nobody told him to, Varian felt as if he was responsible for keeping track of the curious girl. Turning corners, running over fallen branches and stones, he slowly stopped at an open field. “Next stop, anywhere!” the woman cheered from the top of her lungs. It would have been a lovely view if it wasn’t for the jarring, black and alarming fragments. Though when he looked to Rapunzel, she acted as if they weren’t even there. She twirled, spun and cartwheeled through the buttercups and around the waterfall anyways, never minding the dangers around her.

Once the sun was in the middle of the sky, signifying that it was already noon, Lance had mentioned making another stop and that he would help with setting up a picnic spot for lunch. As soon as he finished his sentence, the princess leaped out the door, running off to another nature-filled location. Varian saw a dark blue blur chase after her in an attempt to catch up. All he could do was laugh over the antics as Cassandra groaned in response.

Splashes were heard as the girl in purple caroled, “‘Cause there’s so much waiting,'' As she turned, she was almost face to face with a golden stork. She was soft and gentle with the feathered animal, lifting it’s beak slightly. “I know it’s waiting,” It flew to the rest of its family that was perched on the edge of a shallow and soothing waterfall. “I feel it waiting out there…” Rapunzel ran over, watching the birds fly off into the sky, taking in the scenery around and ignoring the harmful rocks beside her. “Everywhere!”

Relaxing and dropping her shoulders, she sighed. “Blondie, wait up!” Eugene ran from behind the woman, leaning forward as he panted, trying to catch his breath. After a moment, he dramatically rested on the rock he once stood upon, groaning out, “Oh, man, do you have any idea how hard it is keeping up with you out here?” 

The man was almost interrupted by the woman’s sigh, “Come on, Eugene!” She turned towards the open area the birds once rested by, “It’s my first trip outside of Corona! It’s like a whole new chapter of our lives has just begun!”

Slowly, the blue donned man pushed his top half up with his arms, resting on his elbows. He quickly pulled out a velvet box, glancing at the glimmering ring that was put inside. “Uh, that’s kinda what I was thinking, too.” As soon as he pulled it out, it was back into his vest where it would wait until the right moment. 

The freckled woman never turned, only facing towards the open sky and vast mountains ahead. “I mean, aren’t you excited to see where these rocks are taking us?” Her smile never faltered, even on the heavy subject. Who knows if the rocks really were leading the group anywhere? They were running on baseless ideas, but any idea was better than nothing.

“Well, uh, let’s see.” The brown hair man began, looking off into the distance, “Excited?” Eugene had looked down towards the sharp rocks beside himself and his sunshine, “To follow a bunch of creepy rocks?-” Without thinking, he tapped his pointer finger on the sharp and juttered edge of the ominous stone. No pair of gloves would be able to stop the point from pain. “Ah! To who knows where?” As he spoke, an awkward and nerve-filled chuckle fell from his lips. 

The sundrop embodiment sighed once more as she rolled her eyes to her boyfriend. Immediately he spoke up again, “Of course, I’m excited. I’m with you.” His gloved hand reached out to her bare one, taking in their moment alone. He may have not been able to feel it, but he knew the love and warmth that was in her freckled palm and warm skin. “What else could I be?” He looked down, using his right hand he reached into his vest pocket, bringing out the tattered map. Eugene crumpled it in his glove, raising his fist and releasing it into the soothing winds. “We’re gonna toss out the maps and follow the sun.”

The sun kissed woman took the man’s hand, pulling him along. She ran to the edge of the waterfall, never releasing the other alongside her. “We’re gonna blaze our own path,” As she sang, Rapunzel leaped off the edge, pulling Eugene down into the glistening, clear water with her. The hazelnut hair man tried to slow the moment down with repeating “Woah! Woah! Woah!”s but nonetheless, it never stopped the woman as she continued the chime, “And go on the run!”

Never letting go of each other’s hand they splashed into the water. Together, they kept a hold of the other’s hand as they stayed afloat in the water. Eugene rolled his eyes from the moment that had occurred briefly. The woman beside him hadn’t stopped smiling for a single moment on the adventure. “We’re gonna get out and do what nobody’s done.”

Before anybody was able to reach the couple, they were running off into another open field. Buttercups flowing beside the pasture land, swaying cooly on their bare feet and shoes. The objects of eminent doom seemed to have grown across the map at an alarming rate, as even land from this far from the castle was almost taken over by the rocks.

The two ran towards a crater in the ground. The support beside it made it an oddball in the bare land as it was a dirt brown amongst the bright greenery. They chased each other through the field, singing along with their own harmony. “There’s so much out there to do,” Once the two made it to the siding of the barren cave, the princess dropped a miniature rock, seeing how far down the cavern went. “We’ve barely begun!” Eugene began to join into the music once more, “We’re gonna take every dare,” In doing so, multicolored butterflies raised from the pit, fluttering their wings around the two as they glided into the open world. Together, their harmonious theme was kept up, “And feel the wind in our hair!”

Continuing on their journey, they took a detour by a town with lots of farmland. There were few house-like structures but lots of open space. Rapunzel had to beg and plead with the woman driving the caravan to take a moment and visit with the cheery and hardworking townsfolk. They hadn’t talked to anybody other than each other, so getting out into the world and meeting other folk would be a nice change of pace. Once she got the “OK” the blonde grasped onto her boyfriend’s hand, running off into the fields with him. “With no one tellin’ us where we’re going!” the two belted out. 

They passed by a man with a black sun hat, the rim covering body from the harsh sunshine. He wore a light blue longsleeve with a collar that guarded his neck, and a dark grey open vest. His shirt had been tucked into his brown pants and the bottom hems for his legs were put into his muddy boots. A younger girl, who the two guessed was his daughter, was across from him. She had her long, red hair in a large braid. Her locks were held with a grey bandana she had worn on her head and her shirt was a similar color, tucked into a lengthy, deep blue skirt. Her small flats that were covering her feet were dirty as well, but looked to be more cleaned up than her fathers. Together, the two were shearing their sheep under the rising and warm sun; the bleating animals seemed to be very content in the situation.

That was until the excitable princess and her ex-thief of a boyfriend sprinted through their open land while they performed their song, startling the quiet animals. In a rush, the couple got ahold of the wooly animals with the help of the red-headed family. They ran through the more faded and dried out blades of grass, playing and dancing with the mutton beside them. “Next stop, anywhere!” The four enjoyed the royal couple’s company as they sang together in harmony. They waved their goodbyes, offering for the two to come back sometime in the near future. “If you’re there, I’m gonna be where I wanna be.”

Once they left the desolate town, Rapunzel guided Eugene to a small hill filled with peach colored blossoms. Before he had noticed, she was rolling down the hill, laughter bursting from her lips. In the moment, Eugene looked in awe. Nothing could beat moments with nobody but his sunshine and himself together, enjoying the world around them. The man was quick to join the other, rolling down the hill together. “Next stop, anywhere!” The two sang in harmony as Rapunzel leaped into the pool of mud. Eugene held onto the edge, making sure not to fall in alongside the freckled beauty, though all he could do was laugh as his hazel eyes met her shining emeralds. “And the world is calling, it keeps on calling,” With revenge, the sunshine embodiment reached out, pulling the man into the slush with her. As he resurfaced, the two pulled each other close. “Just think of all that we’ll share,” Their touch melted the others' hearts as their foreheads held onto each other and their muddy hands interlocked. “Everywhere…”

The sun was quickly falling from the center of the sky down to the west. Cassandra looked over to the lovebirds covered in sticky, slimy mud and shouted for them to get back to the group and stay close. She’d soon be stopping them to get dinner ready and then they would rest for the night.

“Rapunzel!” Cassandra called out from the caravan, signifying for the two to get back on track with their set goal. Varian jumped slightly from the shout, though quickly began to chuckle as he saw the mess the older two were. As the blonde woman cleaned herself off, the raven haired woman continued to speak, “Do me a favor. Try not to run off like that.” She sighed as she attempted to focus on the road and the shining girl that lifted herself beside her. The blue eyed boy schooched to the side, making room for the two girls. “Not that I don’t think you can handle yourself, but I promised your dad I’d keep you safe,” While she went on with the conversation she eyed around the land before her, “And I’d hate to lose you less than a week on the road.”

As if she wasn’t listening, the honey blonde beamed, “Has it been that long already?” 

Cassandra was nothing but amused, her brows furrowed together at the statement. The King had entrusted her to keep the kingdom’s shining sun safe and more importantly, her best friend. She trusted Rapunzel, sure, but she couldn’t help but worry about her. Never in the girl’s entire life had she been outside in the open world except for the few days it was just her and Eugene. Showing her worry, Cassandra’s expression shriveled, “You’ve got to exercise at least some caution out here. Trust me, Raps. The real world isn’t all fun and games.” As quick as her expression was worried, it was back to focused and serious on the road ahead.

“Next stop, Vardaros!” Hookfoot cheered from the overhead of the mobile home. The three looked up to the man, noticing Lance peaking out as well. “City of fun and games!” The man had chuckled from their excitement.

“You know, we’d be there a lot sooner if somebody hadn’t thrown out the map.” Varian hushed under his breath, “Fitzherbert…” He brought his legs to his chest and hid most of his body under the cloak. Ruddiger leaped up to his left shoulder, sniffing his facial features for a moment before resting contentedly. 

“I am so glad we decided to bring those two along…” Cassandra sighed. She wasn’t exactly sure how long she could take an adventure with people who seemed to be unable to take moments seriously. She knew the dangers of the outside world and was afraid somebody would lead the group onto the wrong track. Deciding to ignore the moment, she continued steering them on their path.

Eugene lifted a hatch open, pulling himself onto the roof of the caravan with the other two men. “Oh, come on Cass. Vardaros is an amazing city!” He used his gloved hands to hold onto the other men’s shoulders, holding himself up to feel the breeze. “You’re gonna have fun!” Lance helped himself and his childhood friend peer over the edge of the fronting, “Which I’m guessing is a new thing for you.” As the group continued their banter, the freckled boy laughed, watching Cassandra and Eugene fight once more. Rapunzel cheered, “Come on, Pascal!” The green lizard lifted the opening of the girl’s bag, leaping out with a small grunt. Quickly, he climbed onto the blonde’s freckled arm as he was lifted to her shoulder. “It’s our first big city outside of Corona.” She looked over to her best friend, smile never falling, “You heard ‘em, Cass. This is going to be fun!” 

The warrior rolled her eyes from the men’s banter. As she did so, she slightly tugged on the two horses bridle, making them stop at a dramatic halt. From the motion, Lance and Eugene slid off the top of the carriage and landed right in front of Maximus and Fidella. The white horse couldn’t help but laugh, receiving a glare from the brown one beside him. “Let’s stop here, shall we?” Cassandra mischievously grinned as the two men groaned, causing laughter to erupt from the two freckle-faces beside her. 

The honey blonde leaped from her end of the seat, offering a hand to her friend, who quickly took it and slid off with her. “Cass, if you don’t mind, I can help make dinner tonight. You’ve been working really hard and…” Rapunzel looked over to Varian who was humming a quiet tune to Ruddiger. A small smile was planted onto his lips as Ruddiger chittered his parts, “I think you deserve some rest. Plus, I want to try to get Varian to open up a little…”

Cassandra sighed, looking to the young boy and then back to the girl in front of her, “Alright. I’m going to stretch my legs, maybe do some training-- but Raps remember, don’t force him to open up. His situation is really heavy, especially for a fifteen year old. He’s young and this is all….a lot.”

“I know, don’t worry about me.” The sunshine girl smiled, pulling the other woman into a tight and short hug. “You go have fun, okay? I’ll call you when we’re done.” And before Cassandra could blink, Rapunzel was gone, offering a hand to Varian. 

The dark woman looked to her feathered friend, reaching out an arm for it to sit on. Once it was perched onto her shoulder, the two ran into the open world. “Next stop, anywhere!” The sun fell upon the two, grass shading with orange and yellow hues as the colder breezes bristled by. In mere moments, horses of different shades, patterns and colors galloped beside the warrior. Owl leopard and flew into the air, gliding above all the majestic beings that ran beside it’s friend. “Got a feeling things’ll be happening suddenly.” Cass belted out as she turned towards the setting star, reaching out for Owl to land upon her raised fist.

The next morning the sun had woken everybody up. Rapunzel was the first to be out of bed, exploring the world around them, having been up at six forty-five in the morning. She led the group over to an open cave she had found. “Isn’t it beautiful?” the woman cheered at the mouth of the cavern, raising her arms that held onto a torch into the air.

“There? That cave? With all the creepy, crawly spiders? Uh, thanks but, no thanks, Princess.” Lance squirmed, holding his limbs up to himself. 

“Come on! Look at what I found!” The honey blonde walked over to rocks that stood out like a platform. She lifted her form of lighting towards a creature. The animal-of-sorts was encased in a golden, shining, mysterious casing. “Next stop, anywhere!” Rapunzel softly touched the casing, feeling the cold, hardness of the object. Her eyes shined with whimsey and joy. The woman turned towards Cassandra, Eugene and Varian, motioning her hand to come closer. The raven haired woman thought the creature was quite impressive, not showing much interest otherwise. 

The man was fascinated, investigating all corners of it; and in any normal situation, Varian would have been right with Eugene. Though after recent events prior to the adventure, it didn’t look like a creature frozen in time, nor a scientific discovery. 

It looked like nothing other than his father, holding up his note with a fist, face full of fear and body full of struggle. The color of the creature’s casing matching the amber’s color, the amber that caught his father at his weakest. 

The hair stripe boy couldn’t do anything but shake at the moment. He couldn’t talk, look at the animal or even breathe properly. As the couple were stopping their investigation, they turned to Cassandra, who was squatted down next to the shaken alchemist. Since he was looking directly towards the ground, she stayed near the rocky, cold earth, not leaving his sights. Cassandra’s voice was hushed, hands in front of her as if she was asking, “Can I touch?” and instead of a verbal response, Varian pulled his arms to his chest as he tried to hold himself, signifying a “No, but I appreciate you asking.” The woman didn’t leave the boy’s side as she helped him slow down his breathing and grounded him back to reality. 

Cassandra sighed, “I’m going to get the kid something to drink and some fresh air.” Her brows were furrowed as she kept her arm around the young boy, leading him out of the cave and back to the caravan with Lance and Hookfoot. Ruddiger ran up to the alchemist, leaping onto his shoulder and rubbing his face into his neck. 

Rapunzel slightly moved her arm out in an attempt to apologize, stopping mid motion, assuming it would be better to say sorry when the younger is more in touch with reality. The couple continued to walk down into the mysterious cavern in silence. The princess sighed, shoulders slumping, “I don’t know, Eugene...I feel so bad.”

The older man turned towards the blonde, reaching down to her sides and sofly holding her together, as if she would shatter. “I know you feel bad, and you were trying to have a bonding moment with everybody. I’m sure he’ll forgive you if you talk about it.” Hazel eyes connected with greens, “When he’s ready, he’ll talk about it.”

The princess groaned, “That’s the thing! I don’t know if he’s ever going to be ready!” She moved out of the man’s soft grip, “What if he needs a positive push-- or, or…” The woman yelled in frustration, gripping her hair, “I don’t know! I just...I really want to help him...He’s like-”

“A little brother to you,” Eugene slowly walked towards his sunshine, “I know, me too...But blondie, healing takes lots of time, especially with something so traumatic.” Rapunzel rested her head on the man’s chest as he continued, “I mean, imagine how you would feel if the same thing happened to you? The kid thinks he’s possibly killed his own father and almost an entire kingdom as well. That’s, like, the equivalent if you let that blizzard demon take over the kingdom…” The crouched down, never letting go of Rapunzel, “What I’m trying to say is, neither of you are to blame. Sometimes there are forks in the road but in the end, you get to your destination. It’s gonna be okay.”

The freckled girl nodded, wiping tears that began to form, “Yeah, okay...I’ll apologize when we’re both better...I should also apologize to Cass.” The woman lifted the torch, pointing it back to the opening of the cave as she led the two back to the caravan.

The walk was a comfortable silence. The calm air and chirping animals that basked in the outdoors brought the blonde back to reality, calming her senses. As they reached the mobile home, Cassandra closed the door to the room she had been in. The sunshine embodiment power walked towards the raven hair. “Hey, Cass-”

“He’s a lot better now, still shaken up…” The woman sighed, “Did you two find anything interesting in there?” Cassandra showed no true signs of interest, only asking to lighten the mood and not cause anything close to a fight.

“No, no we didn’t…” Rapunzel quickly pushed loose hairs behind her ear, “I’m really sorry, Cass...I should have given more thought about the whole dad situation...Of course, I’m going to apologize to Varian when he’s fully grounded with reality! I just...You helped him a lot back there, thank you.”

The warrior sighed, smile forming on her lips. “I know, I know...It’s kind of a new thing for you, especially with other people. Just, give him time; it’s what he needs right now.” She turned towards the blonde next to her, “I just worry that bringing him out to the wilderness was a good idea, y’know. Not that him being locked in jail was any better but-”

“Cass, my dad doesn’t trust him. The only way I thought of getting him out was to bring him along.” The freckled girl smiled, “And you may not see it, but I definitely think that he’s gonna get better, and being out here, in the open world, will open his eyes! He’s gonna love it!” The two girls stood in silence for a few seconds until Rapunzel added, “I hope…!” As they quickly set up Maximus and Fidella, they lifted each other onto the front seat, laughing at small jokes the blonde would make and eyerolls from the raven hair she would receive. 

Little did either of them know, Varian had been tuned into the entire conversation as he listened through the thin walls. He scooped up Ruddiger as his smile grew. “They really do want to be my friends again…” But soon after he spoke, his frown stuck back onto his face, eyebrows showing worry. “Then if they get hurt, it’ll be my fault...And I’ll be alone again...I don’t want to risk it, Ruddiger.”

And as nightfall came once more, Cassandra and Rapunzel set the horses up to rest. “There was a beautiful place I saw nearby! Let’s go see it!” The blonde gasped ahold of Eugene and Cassandra’s gloved hands, pulling them to the destination’s direction.

“I have a lovely location as well! Though I wouldn’t mind if it was just us two.” The man looked over to Cassandra who only groaned, giving him another mischievous grin. “I actually had it set for a small dinner date so, Cassandra, you won’t have to feed us!”

“As if I willingly feed you, Fitzherbert.” The woman snarled from the man’s statement.

Rapunzel smiled, “Okay, okay… After my spot, Eugene and I will go on this, mysterious, dinner date. Now let’s go!” The sunshine sang, “Gonna chase my destiny,” as they reached their stop. The mountain stood out like a stage, holding them above a vast canyon. The three were unable to look over the edge as it was covered with the violent and dangerous rocks. The princess took in a deep breath, enjoying the setting sun that was slightly above her. “Find my best in me!” As she belted, she looked over to the rocks beside her, seeing herself and Pascal in the reflection.

“Next stop, anywhere!” Eugene cheered, lifting his frying pan into the air. “Cause it’s time we went to be where we’re meant to be!” Swiftly, the older man held the pan over the crackling fire that illuminated the area around the couple. The two steaks sizzled in the skillet while the blonde held her own food above the amber flames directly across from the lizard’s bug that was impaled by the stick he held. Eugene squirmed from the thought as Rapunzel chucked, enjoying the lighting from the fire and the shining moon above. 

The next morning, the group decided to wake up early to make the trek to Vardaros before nightfall. “Next stop, anywhere!” The couple sang together, making sure the sleepiness left everybody’s bodies. The sun was barely risen, causing the purples of the night and blues of the day to clash into beautiful hues behind the oceans and mountaintops.

In response, Cassandra striked with the bridle, causing the stallions to dash forward. “And the world is waitin’!”

Eugene leaped out of the caravan, running towards the galloping Maximus as he helped himself on top. “I feel it waitin’!” The man raised his fist into the air, using the other hand to hold onto the white horse.

“It’s all just waiting out there!” Rapunzel sang as she climbed to the rooftop of the mobile home, basking in the low glow of the sun and the soft, gentle push of the wind. 

In the blink of an eye, the brown haired man joined the blonde to the caravan, holding his arm around her waist and keeping her close as they stretched their arms to the sky, “Everywhere!” The two harmonised together. Cassandra led the trailer into the direction of the rising sun, making sure that they reached the so-called city of fun and games. 

After a few hours of traveling, and a quick stop for another map, they were just mere moments away from the city. “Vardaros, here we come!” The honey blonde girl cheered, showing the map to Cassandra and letting Varian get a few peeks here and there. The road was getting a lot smoother as they got closer to the town, most likely from people traveling in a similar direction in the past. The dirty road still had wheel markings and indents, some wider and some smaller, as well as hoof prints from other stallions.

“Not that you shouldn’t trust the endorsement of three lifetime criminals, Raps,” The owl lady stated, leaning towards the direction of the girl beside her, “But maybe you should trust me, too.” Rapunzel and Varian looked up from the map, looking into the woman’s hazel eyes as she vaguely spoke, “I just want to make sure that we’re not losing sight of what we’re doing out here.”

Once she finished, the princess gently rolled up the map, setting it into her turquoise bag. “I know! Believe me, Cass.” She switched out the map for the scroll, glancing an incantation on the damaged paper with small illustrations. The alchemist beside her leaned over in an attempt to retrieve hints. “I want answers more than anyone. I feel like whatever is waiting for us at the end of this road, is only part of why we’re out here.” As she finished speaking, there were slight jostles and noises from trees up on a higher cliff. Varian turned towards the sound, not seeing anybody hiding away. Deciding it was all in his head, he turned back towards the sundrop embodiment, letting his shoulders rest.

The men inside of the van gathered together around a table. Eugene sat on one of the seats across from Lance and Hookfoot, pulling out a velvet box before he relaxed into the chair. “Alright, boys, we’re gonna try this proposal thing one more time, and where better than Vardaros?” The brown haired man gestured his hand out in an attempt to emphasise his “perfect” plan. With his excitement bubbling inside of him, he raised off of the space he was sitting on. His legs almost shouted, “I need to move!” at all moments when even thinking about his plan. Eugene began to pace towards the door of the cabin as he cheered, “One of the most beautiful cities in the world. It’s perfect!” 

“Didn’t she say ‘no’ the first time you proposed?” Lance questioned, crossing his arms across his chest and onto his sides. The only response he got was the other ex-convict looking at him, brows raising in curiosity. Lance felt the air getting heavier, in an attempt to lighten the mood he quietly stated, “I’m just sayin’...You probably thought that was gonna be perfect, too.” 

Once again, he only got a look from Eugene, this time filled with anger. “Thank you, Lance.” He snapped the box closed as he stated his friend’s name.

“It makes perfect sense to me!” The larger nosed man chirped, “The princess is out in the free world for the first time in her life!” Hook Foot used his hand to emphasise what he was saying, “I’m sure she’s just itchin’ to settle down with you!” He sarcastically groans. 

As the hook-footed man finished speaking, the caravan came to a sudden halt. “We’re here.” Cassandra muffledly started from the outdoors of the room. Immediately, Hookfoot and Lance cheered, running outside.

“Woo-hoo! I’m gonna find a picnic spot!” Lance yelled.

Hookfoot shouted back, “No way! You got to choose last time, and there were ants all over the place!”

Cassandra helped the young alchemist off the seat as she spoke, “Hey, why don’t you go help the two find a spot to eat.” The woman smiled at the kid as he nodded, carefully setting his raccoon friend onto the ground. Slowly he trudged off in the distance with Lance and Hook Foot, Cassandra sighing and helping Maximus and Fidella get ready to eat.

Rapunzel briskly walked towards the door of the room Eugene was inside of, quickly grabbing a hold of the doorknob, until she overheard the man yell, “Come on, Fitzherbert, forget Hookfoot!” The blonde leaned against the thin door, listening in on the conversation her boyfriend was having with nobody other than himself. She noted that he sounded nothing but happy as he spat out words. “Forget Lance! This is Rapunzel we’re talking about. Of course, she wants to get married. Besides, I’m not asking her to settle down and throw her life away. I’m just asking her to....” Rapunzel heard Eugene let out a deep and mournful sigh, “Settle down...Okay, enough already! You just have to ask her flat out! Rapunzel…” 

The woman in question grasped onto the handle of the door as she leaned forward. “Will you--” and before the man could continue his practice speech, the girl fell onto the floor with a loud shout, face hitting planks of wood as she noticed Eugene on one knee, holding out a velvet box. The two locked eye contact when she pushed herself off of the ground slightly. Quickly, as if Rapunzel wouldn’t notice, Eugene pulled the box behind his back, giving the woman a meek smile. 

As Rapunzel lifted herself from the wood floor, she tucked her hair behind her ear, not able to make eye contact with the brown hair man, “Eugene, did you just ask me to marry you?” Softly, she moved her emerald eyes towards the other.

“What?! Ha ha! No! That’s crazy!” Eugene moved his eyes away from the girl, “No, I just-- I dropped something.” As he created his fake alibi, Rapunzel made awkward noises while she messed with her hair, trying to not make the situation worse than it already had been. “And I got it. That-- that something that I dropped, and I knelt down and I picked it up, which would explain why I was on one knee.” He sighed, trying to slow down his speech, “I can see how you would, uh…You know” The man cleared his throat, showing he was done speaking.

“I thought I heard you say ‘marry me.’” The blonde’s face showed nothing but pure confusion, unable to tell if her boyfriend was lying or telling nothing but the truth. Due to being hidden away from the world for years and lied to almost every day, it was hard to read other people’s expressions. 

Eugene sighed, “Oh, I see now! There’s the confusion, because I didn’t say ‘marry me.’ I said, ‘Laramie.’ Uh, I was talking about my old dog, Laramie.” Eugene’s eyes continued to stay away from the girl in front of him, trying to continue his white lie.

Rapunzel took a few steps forward, keeping her hand attached to her arm as she tried to keep calm, “You were talking about your old dog, Laramie? To...yourself?”

The man’s eyes opened larger than saucers, quickly averting his gaze once more. He kept fidgeting with the box behind his back, trying to keep his cool. “Yep! Good ole scruffy, totally real, and totally not made up, Laramie!” 

Rapunzel opened her mouth, but before anybody could say anything a loud shriek came from the outdoors. It was monstrous, loud and ear splitting, infiltrating their ears. As quick as she could, the princess leaped from the room, frying pan in hand; she was followed by Eugene lifting his fists as weapons. The two met up with Lance, Varian and Hookfoot, who were all shocked as well. “Okay, Cass! Cass! Are you okay?” Rapunzel shouted, “We heard a scream!”

“That wasn’t me.” As the group looked up to the warrior, they noticed she was holding something by the collar of it’s shirt. It’s limbs hung low as it’s back was hunched up high. Tufts of white hair came from the top of it as the locks fell towards the ground. Slowly the raven haired woman turned around, showing the creature she was holding out. It loudly screeched once more, causing everybody to plug their ears. All the beast could do in response to it’s loud and ferocious call was chuckle as Cassandra dropped it to the ground.

“Shorty?!” Rapunzel gasped as she lowered her arms to her side.

Eugene wasn’t having any of the small troll-like human’s attitude as he put his hands on his hips, “How did you get here?”

The short human spoke, words slurring together, “How indeed!” Slowly, Shorty lifted himself off of the grass and dirt, wiping the debris off his clothes. “The circumstances which lead to my unexpected departure from Corona, make for a long, yet fascinating, tale.” 

The group looked at each other with nothing but confusion, until Varian began to sniff the air close to the elder. Quickly, the alchemist chirped, “And why do you smell like the ham sandwiches I packed…?” Now the young boy was doing the same pose Eugene had on, upset but mildly curious as to what the man had done.

“Bottom line us, beardy.” Cassandra spat out, not wanting to waste another moment.

And as quick as the warrior spoke, the bearded man answered, “I fell asleep in a food trunk.”

“Huh?” Lance shouted as he moved everybody out of his way, “No, no, no, no, no!” As the older man ran over to the area, Varian followed behind him. “The food!” Lance yelled out once more, “He ate all the food! The bread! The cheese! Those little cocktail weenies in the peppercorn jelly...Gone! All gone! Why? Why?! You’re a monster.” As Lance cried out, Varian stood by him, rubbing his hand onto his back as he whispered more about the sandwiches he had made for moments like this. “This is the worst day…”

Eugene used his thumb and pointer finger as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, “Well, I guess someone should head into town and pick up more supplies.” The man groaned from the idea, “Anyone up for a walk?”

“Um, I’ll go.” Rapunzel slowly walked towards her boyfriend, keeping her voice low, “If that’s okay.”

Eugene chirped with confidence, “Sure!” Until he began to speak with skepticism, “I mean, if you want to go for a walk, you don’t need to feel pressured.”

“No, no. I-- I won’t.” Rapunzel kept an awkward smile on her face, trying to keep the conversation light.

“But just to be clear, I didn’t officially ask you to go for a walk.” Eugene continued to speak with difficulty.

“Okay…” The princess chuckled, “but the question was still out there...Doesn’t that count?”

“That depends. Are you officially asking me if it counts?”

“Would that change your answer…?” Rapunzel hushed. Cassandra sighed as Lance rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t know. Would it change yours?”

“A question’s a question…The answer should be the same either way.” Varian’s brows furrowed in frustration as the conversation seemed to be never-ending. 

“Yeah, now, I’m confused, Rapunzel. Do you want to go for a walk or not?”

The princess had a moment of silence before asking, “Do you want to go for a walk?”

“Guys, I can’t take any more! Enough!” Varian and Cassandra yelled in unison, “No one’s going for a walk! Let’s just take the caravan into town! Together!” The two’s faces were full of vexation and annoyance, brows pushed together as their smiles were turned upside down. The fury-filled statement caused the princess and ex-thief to look at each other solemnly. 

In mere moments, everybody boarded back onto the caravan. The city wasn’t too far away from where the group was, plus they had wanted to visit anyways; so getting supplies shouldn’t be too hard. They just had to wait a little bit longer. As Cassandra turned, she saw Rapunzel and Eugene looking in directions away from each other. The princess’ eyes were open wide, staring off to her right with her hands folded in her lap. Eugene looked...awful. His body turned in on itself as he slouched, holding his hands between his knees. The warrior looked over to the alchemist who was sitting by the downcast man, the two gave a confused look towards each other. Cassandra even thought that Pascal had given them the same look of bewilderment, until he sighed.

It took little to no time, the group had arrived in town. “Here we are.” The owl lady stated loud enough for the men inside to hear. She pulled the horses to a stop, hearing the two indoors run outside of the mobile home as if they were a stampede of elephants. 

Lance came to a stop, eyes shining brighter than the stars. Excited was an understatement, he was thrilled to be back into the endearing city. “Vardaros! Here we--” Until he took a moment to see the state the metropolis was in. Everything was a humongous mess. The houses and buildings looked worn down and if you touched the siding, it would crumble on top of you. The streets were empty, quiet and cold. The rocks we jutting out from the dirt roads, homes, shops and even mountaintops around the place. Ships were crashed, roofs of buildings torn to shreds. This wasn’t a city of fun, it was a city of fear. The man couldn’t say anything other than, “Ew…”

“This is your city of fun and games?” Varian huffs, pulling the cloak tighter around him. He didn’t like this place, not one bit. 

Cassandra followed Rapunzel’s footing, following right behind her as they stood in front of the town, “Wow, guys! You were right! This is great!” Her gloved hands were thrown into the air, showing her fake and sarcastic excitement. She lowered her arms, throwing them out towards the city as if she was inviting the rest of the group in, “What do you wanna do first? Get matching face tattoos?” Nobody had noticed, but there was a quiet lamb sitting in front of the tattoo parlor marked with a turquoise V, as if stating it is owned by somebody. “Or see if we can get a deal on a rusty hatchet?” The group noticed as she spoke, there was a small girl at a stand that read, “Knives & Such.” 

She had long, black hair that was split into two braids that rested on her shoulders and chest. Her salmon, long sleeve blouse was accentuated with a darker red vest. She wore a multi-layered skirt that consisted of multiple shades of brown with a small belt. The girl had dark black jeans, boots and gloves, as well as two small hoop piercings for her ears.

And she seemed to be sharpening the knives she had been selling as she gave the group a death glare.

“Oh I know!” Cassandra shouted, a smile on her face, “Let’s see who can catch the plague first!” Rapunzel slightly shivered from the mention. Her false mother, Gothel, had always told her that if she left her tower, there was a chance of catching the plague. And for the first time in forever, she may have had a chance at being right.

“I don’t understand!” Eugene shouted in bewilderment as he brought a hand to his head, “What happened?”

The honey blonde princess slowly walked to the front of the group, hands held to her chest. “Come on, guys! Maybe it’s not exactly how you remembered it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a fun-loving city!” Her eyes caught a hold of the knife girl as she walked towards the stand. “Hello, there! We’re new in town. My name is--”

“Get lost.” The smaller girl spat. She didn’t even move her eyes away from the blade in front of her.

Rapunzel jolted from the sudden rudeness. The warrior walked up behind the princess, putting a hand on her shoulder as she whispered, “Maybe you should hold off on the introductions. Something tells me if word got out that actual royalty were in town, we could be in trouble.”

The two hadn’t noticed Eugene slowly walk up to them, whispering to the group as well, “You know, I hate saying this, but she’s right. Let’s keep a lower profile, princess.” The ex-convict shifted his eyes around with suspicion. “We’ll go get the supplies. You guys take the caravan back up to the camp. The last thing you need is for someone to recognize you.” Cassandra glared at the man who had been speaking but decided to hold her tongue. He had a point to everything he had said, and for once, agreed with her. She decided to let her annoyance slide. 

Varian felt his ears almost wiggle from the sound. Once again he had thought he heard something, or rather someone. Quickly, he looked around, holding Ruddiger a little closer. In blurs he saw movements of people, small whispers alongside them. He could have sworn he had heard the words, “Flynn Rider’s in town” though he wasn’t too sure. The smaller boy decided to play it off as his own imagination.

The group parted ways as Cassandra and Rapunzel decided to take the caravan back to their campsite. The ride was short and uncomfortably quiet, in Cassandra’s opinion. The girl beside her hadn’t spoken much after her awkward conversation with her boyfriend. She looked as if she was lost in her own thoughts as she stared out into the distance, or down at her hands. It was odd, and quite the opposite of her cheery and exciteful attitude she always wore.

Once they had stopped, the raven haired girl set out some apples for Fidella and Maximus to snack on. She slowly walked around the corner, seeing the princess’ bemused face as she drew in her journal. There was only one conclusion to her odd silence.

“He asked you to marry him again, huh?” The warrior’s tone was hushed, nonetheless still startling Rapunzel as she slammed her journal closed. Cassandra leaned against the wall of the mobile home, looking away as if she was interrupting something, which in reality she kind of was. All she could do in response was sigh, “Come on! I know you guys well enough by now!”

The blonde turned away for a moment, eyes shifting towards the grass and dirt. “I-I guess he maybe asked me.” Her tone on the maybe almost begged for a conversation to begin.

Cassandra sat down next to the princess, “Well? What did you maybe say?” She gave Rapunzel a softer look, not wanting to rush her. The woman kept her knee up to hold onto as she waited for a response.

“I didn’t say anything. And I’m not sure why.” Cassandra could almost hear the confusion in her voice. She was about to speak up before the two heard a mysterious voice come from the other side of the caravan.

“Oh, I can tell you why.” The two women slowly peeked around the corner, seeing a taller woman leaning against the yellow wall. 

Her hair was long and white, put into a high ponytail, held together with golden bands and her ears were accentuated with a small black piercing on her right ear and a golden hoop on her left. Half of her face showed her fair and darker skin, while the other half was painted red. She had a thick, grey coat that was pointing at the shoulders as it cut off, showing the red undershirt. The ends of the tunic and undershirt has a similar yellow to her golden hair bands. She wore long black sleeves, the same color as her pants, and silver cufflinks on her wrists. She had a belt and a red cloth underneath, holding her waist. Her boots were chunky and had fur around the top. The item that caught the two women’s eyes, was the sharp and broad sword that had a similar blue tint.

“You have bigger things lying ahead of you.” The woman bit into her half eaten apple and as she chewed, she turned towards the princess and her knight. “Greetings.” She stated with a mouth full of fruit.

-

“I told you she was gonna say ‘no.’” Hookfoot groans, holding a sack over his right shoulder. The man leaned in towards hazel hair, “She wasn’t ready!” 

Varian lifted his eyes off of the ground and focused towards Eugene, trying to hold the bag of fiddles, “Say ‘no’ to what?”

Lance smiled with tease, “Mr. Prince-Charming asked Magic Hair to marry him.”

“Oh that’s rich…” The alchemist chuckled to himself, looking back towards the cobblestone and dirt filled path through the town. In moments like these he preferred to listen in rather than talk.

“For the last time,” Eugene rolled his eyes, trying to keep a hold of the abundance of bread they had bought, “She didn’t say ‘no,’ Hookfoot. She didn’t say anything.” The four all turned towards the man as they stopped in their tracks, giving him a look that only made him feel worse. “Which, in a way, is kind of worse than saying no, so I’d appreciate it if you just changed the subject.” The man stormed off down the road, letting the others follow behind.

“You got it pal. I’m not gonna say another word.” Hookfoot sighed with a smile.

Eugene spoke with an angry and annoyed hush, “Thank you!” and pushed himself to the front of the group. Everybody was silent and they headed in the direction of the caravan. The silence was uncomfortable and awkward; causing Varian and Ruddiger to shrink into themselves and the boy’s cloak, Lance and Hookfoot to look over his small body and give each other an odd stare, and Shorty to continue to suck and teeth on his bag like a baby. The only noise was of their boots hitting the dirty ground.

“Hey! Here’s a fun fact!” Hookfoot spoke up. Everybody looked at him and listened in knowing the outcome wasn’t going to be ending well, “Rapunzel’s agreed to marry me as many times as she’s agreed to marry you! And I didn’t even have to ask--” 

Lance threw his bag of supplies in the hook footed man’s direction. “Now, that’s enough, Hookfoot! Eugene is in pain!” The broad man pulled the smaller one in closer to him, “It’s not his fault he couldn’t see that asking a girl who is free for the first time in her life, to clip her wings and get hitched, would be a horrible idea, but Eugene is still our friend! And we should stick by him, no matter how oblivious or--”

“Desperate!” Hookfoot beamed.

Lance smiled, “Yeah.”

“Downright pathetic he comes across.” Shorty goofily grinned.

Varian chuckled to himself, “And how halfwit and lamebrained he sounds when he decides to make his own decisions he may be.”

“Exactly!” Lance shouted, “Isn’t that right, buddy?” He put his hand on Eugene’s shoulder, pulling him in as Hookfoot did the same motion. Shorty ran in for a hug around the waist of the blue jacket as Lance pulled a begrudging Varian into a group hug.

“You are all just awful, awful people.” The center of the hug groaned.

“Hey! You!” a small, feminine voice shouted. The five looked over to where the voice had come from, noticing the girl who was at the knife stand from earlier. “You guys are friends with that annoying girl with the long hair, right?”

“Hey, hey! Easy!” Eugene gave an offended look, “That happens to be the woman I love.”

“And she’s not annoying!” Lance’s demeanor immediately changed to a more calm and quiet one, “We like the to use the term ‘irrepressible.’”

“You guys do,” Varian stated, “I’m different.” 

The black hair girl continued to call out, “No! She’s in trouble. You better come with me.” The smaller girl ran off, giving a que for the men to follow suit. Running through the dark alleyways and around buildings and the sharp rocks, they had stopped at a dead end where the girl had stopped, sitting on the ground. 

Eugene looked around, not seeing a sign of his girlfriend, “Where is she?”

The petite and agile girl tosses a small bag that clinked together with cash, “How should I know? Some guy just gave me a sliver of gold to get you to come down here.” She quickly walked away from the situation, money in hand.

“Hello, Rider.” A grumbly and low voice came from the shadows. The man in question moved his head in the voice’s direction, getting everybody else to do the same. Varian stepped back slightly, Lance put his hand on his shoulder in reassurance. As the man stepped out of the darkness and into the light, everybody was able to see his features better.

He had lengthy, red hair that was in a low and loose bun, he had buck teeth and a long and jagged nose. His pointy black had made it hard to see, but everybody noticed his grey eye and the other closed, scarred eye. He wore a rusty colored long sleeve under a black vest and belt. His midnight colored pants and boots only hid him more in the darkness.

“Hoo! Anthony, The Weasel. See, I knew it was you before I even turned around! Must be standing downwind.” As the ex-convict quipped, many more burley people stood around the group, holding each other close.

Lance leaned down to try to match Varian’s height, “Got any more of your sticky doo-hickeys?”

“Doo--what?!” The alchemist shouted within a whisper, “No! I left my alchemy belt in the caravan. If I knew somebody was such a well known criminal for backstabbing other convicts, maybe I would have considered it.” His gaze was directed at the brown haired man.

“Oof!” Hookfoot rolled his eyes, “And I thought I was a big, ugly goon!”

“An old friend would like to do some catching up with you.” Anthony spoke with his lower voice, making his men grab ahold of the group.

-

“I’m sorry, who are you, exactly?” Rapunzel spoke up as she walked towards Cassandra.

“Oh, right, sorry!” The taller woman bowed in front of the two, “Princess Rapunzel, my name is Adira.” She stood back up in her proper posture, keeping her right hand on her heart.

The knight of the caravan group stood forward, fists at her sides, “And what do you want, Adira?” She nearly spat out her words with rude intent.

Adira lifted her hand out from her chest with calm and ease, “A word with Rapunzel is all,” Slowly, she moved her palms to her back, waiting for the warrior to leave. “Alone, if you don’t mind.”

Cassandra scoffed from the idea, “Not gonna happen.” He placed her right hand on the white haired woman’s chest in an attempt to force her to leave.

Rapunzel looked towards her friend, “Just a second, Cass. Let’s…” Her green orbs moved towards the half and half woman, “Let’s hear her out.”

“Okay, I gotta be honest. I know we just met, but, uh, I’m not a big fan of people touching me.” Adira leaned over to stand above the raven haired girl as she spoke, adding seriousness to her tone of voice.

“And I’m not a fan of people who lurk in the shadows.” Cassandra kept her hand on the woman’s chest.

Adira didn’t falter, a smile staying on her face. “Okay, last chance to do this the nice way.” She harshly grabbed ahold of Cassandra’s wrist with her right hand. 

The owl lady looked towards the contact, noticing the symbol marked on the back of her hand. It was a circle with three lines sticking out from the top right of it. She looked down, seeing the same marking on the woman’s belt. Immediately, Cassandra remembered the mark on Varian’s cloak. What did Varian and Adira have in common, and what does this symbol mean? Instead of asking, she only spoke with a quiet tone, “And where’s the fun in that?”

“Cass, no! Wait.” Rapunzel put her hand out to stop a fight from breaking out, failing in the end as she saw Adira grab her friend by the wrist, spin her around and throw her to the ground in an instant. Cassandra slid against the dirt, standing up in the process. The grin on the white haired face never left, as she smiled in the raven haired girl’s direction, hands behind her back. “Hey! I don’t know who you are, but you do not get to do that to my best friend!” Rapunzel shouted, frying pan in hand.

Adira looked between the two who were both locked in a fighting stance. The groaned in response, “Alright, then.” the half and half woman turned towards the princess, moving back into a fighting stance as she pulled her hand out, ready to strike. 

Rapunzel ran directly towards her, swinging her frying pan, only giving Adira time to move out of the way with ease as she tangled herself into her blonde locks and fell to the ground. “Woah!”

“Let’s try that again, weirdo.” Cassandra unsheathed her sword and launched towards the other woman’s direction, ready to strike.

Adira moved from the woman’s attempts with ease, just like before. She had even started a conversation to prove the simplicity of the fight, “I’m not a weirdo. Am I?” she slid from Rapunzel’s pan once more, “Eccentric, maybe.” Cassandra stabbed her sword into where the woman had stood before, “Unconventional, sure.” She had even leaned directly under the blade, “But, weirdo?” And as she finished speaking, she slid her boot to the raven haired woman’s, causing her to fall to the ground and roll down the hill.

The princess leaped over her body, ready to strike with her weapon of choice. “Oh, come on, guys. This is ridiculous.” In any way the two women tried to attack, Adira had only evaded. “I don’t wanna fight you.”

“You could’ve fooled me.” Cassandra shouted between heavy breaths, attempting to attack once more.

Adira leaped over the sword with ease, “You guys aren’t even trying.” She spoke as she caught Rapunzel’s frying pan in mid air. “Oh, waiit. They are trying.” Adira rolled her eyes from the realization of the two’s weakness.

Cassandra leaped into the air, slashing her sword to the ground. “That’s it!” She noticed that her target wasn’t there. And with a blur of white, Adira had moved behind the warrior, blocking her sword with her foot and kicking it out of the area and moving her boot too close to her pale face, knocking Cassandra to the ground. 

The golden woman smiled above the raven haired girl with kindness, offering her a hand to get back up onto her feet. The fight was over, and it was clear to see who had won. Rapunzel wraps her locks around the darker hand, “Enough!”

The two looked at each other, one face full of determination and the other with confusion. Adira balled her hand into a fist, “Yeah, see, I thought we covered this.” She pulled her sword from behind her out into the open, the sun giving it a blue gleam. “I don’t like being touched!” Adira striked her sword down onto the golden hair that entangled her with a grunt. Though, the sword didn’t break, nor did Rapunzel’s hair. 

“It didn’t cut...” The golden woman hushed.

The princess spoke, “It didn’t break...It must be made of…”

“Princess! Cass!” A heaving voice shouted from afar. Once it reached closer, it stopped, trying to catch its breath.

“Hookfoot!” Rapunzel shouted, getting closer to the man. She rested an arm on his shoulder in a show of support. “Are you okay? Where’s Eugene? And Lance? A-and Varian?”

“I can see you have your hands full.” Adira stated, walking back into the trees, “I’ll seek you out later.”

The princess’ green eyes looked with anger from where Adira was, to the hooked man beside her with curiosity. Hookfoot continued his story, “I fought as hard as I could, and barely got away alive!”

“Wait, wait? Fought? Fought who?” The freckled girl looked around as if her answers would appear in the trees, “Where’s everybody? What happened?”

Hookfoot continued breathing heavily, “I’m so sorry. Eugene...They took him. And everybody else, too.”

-

The white, marble pillars and bricks bounced the bright sunshine into the room. The light colors made the room almost hard to look at. At the end of the long hallway and large room stood a throne that sat inside of a limestone lion’s gaping maw. Torches around the room gave the area light during the darkest days, though everybody was sure that the clashing white was able to keep you alert. 

It was odd to see the violent, black rocks even all the way out here. They stabbed through the mountains and trees that surrounded the domain. The only calm thing was the ponds of water around, though they even stood silent before The Baron’s presence.

Anthony led the men holding the group captive to the expanse. On the way, Hookfoot escaped one man’s grip and ran off. The Weasel chuckled, knowing the fate of that man, and knowing it wouldn’t be happy. The Baron didn’t take lightly to failure, especially in such an important mission. Though there was a chance that Hookfoot would never make it back to the campsite due to how dangerous Vardaros is. 

The Baron’s goons dropped the men and boy onto the hard and cold floor with a “THUD.” The room was shiny, too shiny for their liking. You could see your reflection from any surface. Though, Shorty mustn’t have minded, as he fell asleep immediately. Varian rolled his eyes and groaned, looking towards the meticulously sculpted lion, and the large man that was walking towards the throne inside.

Lance gasped, “It’s the--Oh, it’s-- it’s the--” 

“Baron!” Eugene interrupted from his seat, “Haha! Long time, no see.” The ex-convict tried to keep the fear from his voice, obviously failing. “I’m glad to see you’ve set up shop here in Vardaros now.”

The Baron was a large man, tall and wide. He had blonde locks, thick brows and beard. He wore a large, deep blue suit with a lighter that was accentuated with golden lines and buttons. He had a lighter blue undershirt as well as pants. It was all brought together with a ruby red pendant that stayed upon his neck and his ring on his finger. His face was accentuated with a painful amount of scars. Nobody dared to ask where they had all come from.

“In fact, we were just admiring what you’ve done with the place.” Eugene chirped.

“If you’d like to keep your tongue,” Anthony spoke, pointing his finger at the brown haired man, “I suggest you stop moving it now.” He gripped a hold of the rope around the fake storybook hero, lifting his fist to strike him. Varian jumped from the sudden movement and scooted towards Lance.

“Anthony, enough.” A low and gruff voice spoke from the lion. The group turned and noticed it had been The Baron who decided to speak up. Anthony released the man, shoving him back into the group. “Quit playing games, Rider. I’ve been waiting for this moment. It’s time to make amends, for what you did to my Stalyan.”

“What’s so important about a horse?” The freckled boy leaned towards Lance, quietly whispering for only him to hear.

The man sighed, “It’s not a horse…”

“Oh, right! The Stalyan Incident.” Brown eyes moved from the marble tiles to the man in front of him, “You really should let this whole Stalyan thing go. Come on! I mean, it’s ancient history. Let’s all just move on.”

“Let’s not.” A feminine voice stated from the back of the room. The four looked back towards the voice, seeing a girl standing in a posture that shows she was the root of this entire escapade.

Her hair was braided from the sides and fell halfway down her back. She had a mole on her left cheek and earrings in the shape of golden horseshoes. Her outfit consisted of a magenta top, black jacket with a popped out collar, a dark skirt that had a sangria colored hem, and dark black boots as well. She used a belt and choker for accessories. Altogether, she radiated the energy of a woman that knew what she wanted, and she’d do anything to have it.

“Hello, Stalyan.” Eugene spoke meekly. He almost seemed afraid of the woman. Stalyan lifted the sack of riches next to her and saunted towards The Baron.

As she passed the group, she gave her greetings, “Hello, Rider.” Stalyan stated with a slap to the man’s cheek. She kept her path towards her father, dropping the treasure and giving the blonde a kiss on the cheek and leaning on his shoulder. 

Shorty spoke, words slurring together, “I’m so confused.”

“Stalyan is The Baron’s daughter.” Lance cleared his throat and spoke quickly towards the alchemist and troll bodied man, “And Eugene’s ex.”

“I see!” Varian and Shorty spoke in unison, the bearded man continuing, “And who’s this Eugene guy?”

“Hey! Stalyan!” Eugene tried to speak once more, “How are ya? Uh, look, before you get too upset, I can explain.”

“Oh, I’m not upset, Rider,” The brunette began to talk. Her voice was soothing and calm, which almost made the group begin to panic more. “Besides, what’s to explain? You left me at the altar.” 

The hair striped boy in the group gasped and looked over to the so-called, “Flynn Rider” as he tried to elaborate the situation. “Did I? Did I...do that? Is that how it went down? Because that’s not how I remember it!” Everybody could see the man flailing around in between ropes, “But hey, you know, it was--It was quite some time ago.” Stalyan rolled her eyes as Lance smiled in her direction, trying to calm her nerves and failing at the idea, “Who’s to say who did what that day? I mean--”

“Stop talking.” The ex-convict immediately shut his mouth, watching the woman walk towards him, “After what you did, I swore that if I ever saw you again, I would break a lot of bones.” She held up her fists, showing the action of breaking limbs in front of her.

“Fair, fair.” Eugene agreed, looking down at the marble tiles, “We’re talking about my bones, is that correct?” Lance and Varian groaned in response, signifying the man was most likely unable to diffuse the situation. 

Stalyan walked away from the group, tapping her pointer finger on a non-existent object, “But with time comes perspective. I realized that we were meant to be for each other, Flynn Rider. Partners in crime.” The woman put a hand on her chest, signifying the importance of her words, “Partners in life. We can’t change what we are.” Her lips were so close to the man’s face, able to hear every word she whispered. 

“Wait, what?” Eugene stammered, “What are you talking about?” He quietly asked the woman.

The Baron began to tell of his ideas, “I’m making you a proposition, Rider. Keep good on the promise you made to my daughter, and marry her.”

Without a moment of rest, Eugene pulled his sarcasm back into conversation, “Waiting for the ‘or.’”

“Or you, Strongbow, Meek-Stripe and your pet troll will perish.” The Baron stood up from his throne, giving everybody in the room the awful presence of fear.

Anthony leaned over, prodding with his fingers, “Painfully…” He cackled.

Eugene scoffed from the idea, “You can’t make me marry her, Baron!” 

Instead of beginning an argument, the blonde man stood with his negotiation in hand, “Oh, I’d like to give it a try.” He tapped the side of his ring and as he did so, the top opened up, showing a small, black spider inside. It had splotches of red painted on its black body. 

Lance gasped and squirmed, “It’s a spider. Eugene! Eugene, it’s a spider. You know I hate s-s-spiders.” The man tried to catch his breath, heaving in and out extremely quickly. Varian leaned slightly closer towards the man, trying to give a calm and caring touch. He may have not been ready to open up, but he wanted to try his best to help. In this situation he felt anything but helpful.

“Not just any spider,” The arachnid crawled onto the tip of The Baron’s large pointer finger and ran around his paws, “It’s a venomous Kai spider.” The legs stuck out, almost reaching across multiple fingers at once.

Varian spoke up, “Its bite causes fever and delirium.” His voice that had once been filled with confidence shriveled into fear, “Only when there’s swelling of the tongue and throat, do you know the end is near…” 

The spider shot out netting, sticking to the large hands. The Baron stomped over, standing above Lance. Varian began to sweat and shake as Eugene gasped. The spider was too close for comfort, as it slowly crawled onto Lance’s collarbones.

There were no full words or sentences that came from the man’s mouth. He blew on the insect in an attempt to get it to leave, but it only agitated it more, crawling underneath the man’s clothing. Lance spoke quickly and in a panic, “Spiders bite. He’s on me! He’s on me! He’s walking! He’s walking! He’s on my hand! He’s-- OW!” And in an instant, Lance’s eyes closed.

“No!” Varian and Eugene shouted in unison. The pale face has a query, “Is he dead?”

“No.” The bear-bodied man rolled his eyes, “The half-wit passed out from fear.”

“He’s right. That’s exactly what happened.” The man opened his eyes and smiled towards his friends.

The alchemist looked towards Lance, and then Eugene, “If my memory is right, though--” 

“He will be dead by nightfall.” The Baron boomed, “Unless, of course, you have this.” He reached into his collar, bringing out a vile of orange liquid. “The anti-venom. Marry Stalyan, and this will be your wedding present from me.”

Stalyan leaned up to “Flynn Rider” once more and whispered to him, “Trust me, Rider. It’s meant to be.” She slowly walked up to her father and stood in arms length. The man looked at her with nothing but pride and joy. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, as some may say. 

Eugene gave the woman a death glare as the younger boy hid away next to Lance, who passed out from fear once again. Varian didn’t know what to do. He had never been affiliated with other criminals before, so he did his best to stay in his bubble, but try to support the others. Though, maybe his experience with his own criminal records could help him fight them out if they had the chance.

Shorty jolted from his slumber on the cold floor, “Congratulations, Mr. Groom!” He leaned into the sleeve of the man’s jacket, receiving a cold look from him and a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you all it would be just like the episodes + small twists of different content. I promise after some time, bigger events WILL change due to the au, so keep a look out! I'm so excited to tell this story.
> 
> If you want a visual representation of Varian's outfit, here is a link to my drawing! (I may not use the second outfit but the practice was nice) https://twitter.com/honeyhueym/status/1338232720275681283
> 
> Also. I didn't proofread this. Sigh :]
> 
> Edit 1/13/21: HI! I'm still updating this fic! I've been really busy but I'm working on the next chapter right now! Please be patient as I have to work with school and my own personal life + art and this fic ;; I promise I'm working ! :]


	3. BEYOND THE CORONA WALLS (PART II OF II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breaking out of prison for a second time is an odd experience, but crashing a wedding is even more odd. Take time to enjoy the oddities in life!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S BEEN ABOUT A MONTH BUT I'M WORKING ON THIS I PROMISE ! IT TAKES FOREVER !! Anyways if there are any errors. Dang!

“Somebody somewhere has to know who took Eugene.” Rapunzel spoke with panic laced between her words, “We’ll cover more ground if we split up.” She held out multiple old wanted posters of the man in question for Cassandra, Hookfoot and Maximus to take. Each being had taken their papers, running off into different directions to ask around where the man had gone.

The princess and the warrior had ran into an elderly woman, stopping her in her tracks to ask a few questions about the missing ex-convict. The lady secured her glasses onto her face as she shook her head, unable to recognize the man on paper. Immediately afterwards, Rapunzel had found another person, asking the same question she had asked before. And to her demise, they shook their head as well. The blonde turned from on interviewee to another man behind them, chasing him as he ran away. 

Maximus led himself and Hookfoot to any trace of a human being nearby. In mere moments they had run into three kids playing with marbles in the alleyways behind what they guessed were a bakery and a newspaper building. The hook footed man quickly ran up to the lot, showing the poster that read “WANTED: Flynn Rider” with a semi-decent drawing of him, and asking if any had seen anybody like him. The children looked at each other and fell into a laughing fit, Maximus only sighing in response.

Rapunzel and Cassandra stood in the middle of the afternoon rush near the center of town, waving the paper into the air and shouting out for help. Not a singular person even turned to gaze upon the duo. Pascal shriveled behind the blonde hair he rested in.

“No one wants to talk!” Hookfoot cried out. The four stood next to an empty and worn town storage building. The windows had nearly fallen out as the wood rotted from years of little to no care or clean-up. Where the building stood, it was higher above the main ground, so the five were able to look over and see the people below them. 

The princess groaned from frustration, keeping her hands either intertwined with her hair or on her head to fidget as she paced. “Look, Raps,” Cassandra spoke from her sitting spot on a crate, “We’ve been at this for hours. Maybe we should go back to Corona and send for the cavalry.” The woman pulled off one of her leather boots, emptying the rocks that took home inside. “If we leave now, we can be back in two wee-” The raven haired woman looked up towards the friend she had been talking to, seeing a furious and scrunched up face that only explained the anger she had at the idea, “Oh! You’re right! I’m so sorry!” Cassandra spoke the ending with a frightened sing-song tune, holding her hands up in apologies, “Please stop looking at me like that.”

Rapunzel had huffed and puffed heaves of breath, trying to calm herself. “What’s the matter, Princess?” A child-like voice had questioned, “Looking for your boyfriend?” The girl teased as she snickered.

The blonde pointed up towards the familiar girl. It was the same child who had been sharpening blades the day before, and the princess could easily remember her unfond tone towards her. She pointed directly at her and shouted, “You!” before she had released her hair from the beads that held it together, latching it onto a broken mast of a ship, and swinging herself up to the child and her wheelbarrow of shields and sharpened weapons. “You know something! What do you know?” Rapunzel held onto the girl’s red blouse, shaking her as she was interrogated, “Tell me now, or so help me!”

“I don’t need to tell you nothing!” The girl spat in the direction of the emerald green eyes that shouted at her. Before Rapunzel was able to yell back at the smaller person, trumpets began to play fanfare in the distance. The five looked towards each other in confusion, but mutually agreeing they had to go towards the music and see what the sounds were calling about. As quick as she could, the princess tired her hair back with the beads and ran off towards the direction of the brass instruments. Rapunzel had run through cobble streets and dark alleyways, ignoring the sharp blades of mysterious rock that covered the run-down city. 

Slowly, the freckled skin peeked around the corner, standing in front of a stage where the fanfare had called from. The curtains behind the stage were patched up with different shades of purple, wood rotting and decaying, and the black rocks forming around the structure. 

A man with a hooked and long nose walked forward to the end of the wooden stage, “Arlight! Shut your faces and listen up, you scum.” He practically spat out his words as the crowd became silent.

“Hey!” Hookfoot shouted to the princess, “That’s the guy that attacked us.” Cassandra, Rapunzel and Hookfoot gave the thin man on stage an ugly look as they payed close attention to his words. 

“The Baron has something he’d like to say.” The man with the odd nose held his arms out, showing the man who had wished to speak. 

Rapunzel looked to her night owl friend, “‘The Baron’ Baron?” Confusion was read on both of their faces as they shrugged. The girl with freckled cheeks decided to go forth and stand closer to get a better look at what would be unfolding before them.

“People of Vardaros,” A low and booming voice called out, “I bring you cause for celebration. A glint of joy into your otherwise meaningless and pitiful lives.” Hookfoot and Cassandra stood alongside their sunshine friend, wishing to hear more. “My people will be collecting gifts for the occasion from each of you..”

Behind the curtains, Eugene walked towards Lance, Varian, Ruddiger, and Shorty, who were tied up in the rope from earlier, placing a hand on the older man’s knee for reassurance. The Baron’s goons had leaned them against the thin wooden walls, Lance’s sleeping body lay against Varian’s tiny stature. “Hang in there, buddy...I’m gonna get you outta this.”

“Wow!” Staylan shouted as she peeked through the violet curtains, “You should see all the people out there!” Her tone was full of mischief, laced through every word.

“Stalyan,” Eugene pleaded, “Come on. This is stupid.” The man seemed like he could cry if either of his friends had been in any more danger than they already were in. He stood up, trying to face the woman in front of him.

The brown haired lady only chuckled with a witty remark, “I know it is. I told my dad the spider wasn’t necessary,” She rolled her dark and dooming eyes, “But you know bad guys. They have such a flair for drama.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Eugene scowled in the woman’s direction.

Stalyan crossed her arms and gave the man a similar face but instead wore a grin, “I know what you meant.”

“Stalyan, I can’t do this.” The hazel haired man pleaded once more, “I’m in love with someone else.” His brows kept furrowed on his forehead.

In response he got a hair flip as she faced the curtains once more, “Yeah, I know. We’ve all heard the story by now. How the daring, ne’er-do-well thief rescued the lost princess from her tower…” She tapped her pointer finger onto her chin in thought, “Let me ask you. Do you really think it’s fair to ask a girl who spent the first eighteen years of her life in prison to give up her freedom for a lifelong relationship with someone like you?” Her final few words were spat out and stung like venom from a snake bite. 

Eugene looked defeated. For the first time on this entire trip, Varian wanted to tell the man that nothing she said was true. Though how could he be sure that it wasn’t? Everything that the young alchemist had gone through, months before this current moment in time, screamed that she was right. Varian shook off the thoughts and instead focused on the sickly man next to him, trying to bring a slight amount of comfort. 

The vanquished male looked back at the three, four including Ruddiger, as the Baron continued his speech on the other side of the blinds. “I am pleased to announce the re-engagement of my daughter, Stalyan.” The bear-built man booms.

“Wait. The Baron’s daughter?” Rapunzel hums in question.

“Oh!” Hookfoot sighs dreamily, “What a daughter!”

“And her fiance,” The Baron chuckles with his low and scruffy voice, “Flynn Rider.”

As the man in question shamefully walked from behind the lavender curtains Rapunzel looked at the stage with confusion. Nothing but uncertainty and dread filled her from head to toe as she felt so lost. Visibly, she wasn’t moving a muscle, but internally she felt her whole world crumbling beneath her feet. 

Nonetheless, the princess frowned as she walked closer to the platform, pushing others out of the way and calling the ex-convict’s name. “Eugene!” Her brows furrowed in bewilderment at seeing the man up close.

Eugene sighed, but shock was laced between words, “Rapunzel…”

“Eugene, I don’t understand.” Her voice quivered in fear that this was all the harsh reality, “What’s going on?” Pascal shrunk back behind the golden locks.

“Rapunzel, I--”

Stalyan sauntered over next to the blue donned man, putting a hand on the shoulder pad of his. “He’s with us now.” The brunette snared.

“This is some kind of joke, right?” The sun kissed girl pleaded, holding onto the rim of the stage in an attempt to keep herself grounded.

A guard whistled, queuing “Rider” and Stalyan to look in the sound’s direction behind them. One the The Baron’s goons lifted the tapestry, showing the poisoned man resting on the wall and the young alchemist’s shoulder. Varian gave the man a look of fear and doubt, before looking down at his friend beside him.

Eugene stuttered as he looked away from the sickening sight, “I, uh…” Brown locks fell as he looked towards the dirt roads and rotting wood he stood on, softly apologizing, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Rapunzel...But I’ve made my choice.” And with that, he and his “bride” turned away from the massive group, walking behind the curtains once more.

“Eugene?” Rapunzel cried out, reaching out her hand as if he was going to turn around and return the motion. Cassandra and Hookfoot held onto the sundrop woman, reassuring her that they were there. “Eugene!” The princess dropped her hands onto the stage as she realized none of this was an awful nightmare, and that it was all brutally real. Her eyes widened in shock, until she turned around and leaned into the warrior friend’s arms, letting out her fear and emotions with tears. “Eugene…” 

-

The cobblestone walls and floor were freezing, Varian noted it was almost as bad as the burning and scratchy rope they had been tied in earlier. The walls were elongated and spread fairly far upwards, the caged door and window didn’t help his nerves. It was odd that this cell had more light than Corona’s dungeon, since that kingdom had been the city of the sun. Nonetheless, the boy didn’t want to be trapped and confined once more.

The tapping of Eugene’s boots on the stone flooring while he paced around somehow kept his mind away from a panic. The hazel haired man tapped his glove on his chin in thought.

Lance spoke with what sounded like a lisp from the swollen tongue he had gained, “Your nose.” Red eyes looked in the direction of the dwarf built man, “It looks like a strawberry...You know, speaking of strawberry--I get the berry part. That part makes perfect sense, but what?!” The man squeaked as he threw his spotted hands into the air, “Where does the ‘straw’ come in? They should call it noseberry. ‘Cause it looks like your nose.”

Varian sighed, trying to continue the calm conversation, “Okay, but if you think of a blueberry, it’s not truly blue, it’s actually mostly purple or indigo. Yet we still don’t call it ‘indigoberry.’”

“I’m gonna eat your nose.” Lance laughed in the short man’s direction, chomping his teeth with vigor.

Eugene spoke solemnly, “How’s he doing, Shorty?”

“He’s doing great!” Shorty slurred his words together with a smile.

The alchemist sighed as he turned to look at the contemplative man who had been leaning against the wall, “Eugene, what do we do? Lance is getting worse by the minute, and personally I don’t want to end up like that next!” Varian declared with fright and an emphasis on the “I.”

The man in question looked over to his sickly friend, crouching down and placing a hand on his chest. “Lance, buddy, just hang on, alright? I’m gonna get you that antidote, I promise, I’ll do whatever it takes.” Eugene looked to his other friends that sat beside the ill man and noticed the freckled boy looking away with wariness. 

Knowing the kid’s boundaries, the hazel man didn’t touch, he only spoke to the boy. “Hey, I know you may not trust me, or anybody on the team. And you have every right to feel that way. You don’t have to believe me right now, tomorrow, or days, weeks, and months afterwards. I promise, I’m gonna help Lance and get us all out of here. We’re all gonna help each other. And no matter what, we’re Team Awesome, and that’ll never change.”

Varian smiled, though his brows still showed his skepticism, Eugene didn’t mind. He knew that he had heard and listened to every word the man had said, and that was all that mattered to him.

The clicking of heels got closer to the caged door, and once they stopped, a feminine voice spoke up. “It’s the right thing, you know. Getting hitched.” She whispered as she leaned on the bars.

“Stalyan, you need to call this off, and get me that antidote right now.” The ex-convict pleaded, holding tightly onto the bars.

“You know what I was thinking about earlier? Our trip to Pencosta.” The woman slyly smiled, “Remember you said stealing the sultan’s jewels was one of the worst ideas I’ve ever had, but then, I made you go through with it, and, well, we made a fortune that day.” 

Eugene narrowed his eyes as his brown eyebrows pushed together, glaring at the woman in front of him. “My point is, I know what’s best for you, Rider.” As the brown haired woman walked back towards the bars, the man’s coffee-colored orbs shrunk in fear. “I always have.” The woman spat out, “I know in my heart that this is where you belong, Flynn. And deep down, you know it too.”

The blue-donned man’s furious snare quickly turned into a fearful look of sadness and sorrow, imitating a despair-filled hound. “Well…” The cunning, feminine voice continued, “It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, and the last thing any of us needs is...bad luck.” The two adults looked over the unwell man and the small boy beside him, “Right, Flynn?”

If looks could kill, Varian would have been a murder while Eugene, Lance, Ruddiger and Shorty were witnesses. The alchemist shot daggers in the crafty woman’s direction, face immediately softening and showing his anxieties when he looked to the other half of Team Awesome.

“It’s Eugene, now.” The man spoke up, grip tightening around the bars. His gloves covered his hands, whitening from the hold.

“No, it’s not.~” The woman hummed, tossing rusty keys that fell with jingling sounds, directly in front of the corroded cage-like door. “See you out there.” Eugene looked down at the tossed item, eyebrows lifting and eyes filled with surprise as an idea struck him.

-

“I don’t understand. Pascal, how can Eugene be getting married?” The princess softly smoothed the drawing of her boyfriend and herself in her journal. The paper was crisp from the watercolors and ink. The illustration showed the man on his knee, holding her hand as she looked away. It was as if the woman longed for the softness of his hand in hers once more, though she wasn’t even sure she’d receive that touch ever again. 

“What if that’s the last time we ever talked?” The blonde pushed back tears that pleaded to fall from her eyes, “Why didn’t I say ‘yes’?”

As she moved her hands away to see her depiction of the man she loved, she began to sing, “When I let him walk away, what if I had spoke instead?” A tear dropped next to the illustration of herself, landing next to her feet. 

“Why did I go on concealing the confusion I was feeling?” Rapunzel shut her leather journal, moving it away from her lap as her eyes gazed to the wooden floor.

Slowly, the woman climbed down from the balcony bed she had sat upon, feeling the chill of the quiet caravan beneath her. “Now I’ll never get to say all the things I should have said.” The princess opened the door, freezing in place.

“Now there’s no more love, just echoes of the life we should have led.” Rapunzel stood in the doorway, remembering the incident that occurred earlier that day and envisioning what could have happened. This time she hadn’t felt the confusion, only joy from the idea, and sadness it wasn’t going to happen. She envisioned Eugene turning towards her, getting down on one knee and showing the ring to her. 

Rapunzel wanted that vision to be reality more than anything in the world. “If I could take that moment back…” The blonde slowly walked towards the imaginary Eugene, clutching her hands together as if the universe had granted her wish. “If he were here beside me still…” She released her hands from each other, softly wrapping a hand on the velvet box. 

The Eugene imitation stood up, staring into the princess’s eyes with genuine emotion, though Rapunzel still could not feel the love that the real Eugene had. “I’d let him see inside my heart…” A gloved hand cupped her cheek, leading her into a kiss.

Keeping her footing in the doorway, the princess stood still. “Now he never will…” 

“Maybe if I gave her time…” Eugene’s voice echoed in the labyrinth he had been locked away in, “Maybe if I didn’t go…” 

His leather gloves held on to the decaying bars as he crouched down, grasping the corroding keys that queued him to their escape. “Maybe things somehow would change, but now,”

The ex-convict slowly walked towards the barricaded window, seeing out into the night sky. It was a little comforting that the woman he loved so much was under this same light, though he wasn’t with her is what hurt him. “I guess we’ll never know.”

“If I could take that moment back…” The princess donned in purple walked away from the mobile home, her friends, Hookfoot and Cassandra, who sat beside the bright embers, the trees and all that stood next to her. No matter what, she felt so alone.

“If I could turn back time, I would.” The chocolate haired man opened the velvet box with the shiny ring inside, gazing at it and dreaming of the future the woman he loved and himself could have had together.

As Rapunzel found a clearing where nothing covered her view of the bright moon and stars above her. It was the only thing the man she loved and herself could share. Eugene looked out from the caged window once more, looking at the same view the princess he loved was able to see. “If we could make a brand new start.” The two sang in unison, “How I wish we could…”

“Wish I could take it back,” The freckled arm reached out towards the sky as if she would feel the connection between herself and Eugene once more, “But now it’s gone, for good…”

The man inside the cell had done the same motion, pleading for the same desire. “Wish I had that moment back…” As he realized it wasn’t that easy, his shoulders fell, pushing him against the cobblestone wall as he fell to the ground in defeat.

-

Using the moon as her light source, Cassandra walked through the woods to try to find the princess. After just a few moments, she had spotted the girl sitting on a rock that stuck out for freckled legs to swing over the edge. Rapunzel hadn’t seemed to notice her, and if she did she never spoke. Her eyes were fixated on the moon. 

“Uh, Rapunzel?” The raven haired woman cleared her throat, speaking up to get the blonde’s attention, “We all know that Eugene and I don’t always agree on everything.” Pascal emerged from the blonde locks, resting on the violet cloth the princess wore, “But over the last year or so, I’ve noticed something that makes him...less detestable.” The owl woman let a few moments of silence peak out, just enough to set the moment, “He loves you, Rapunzel. More than…” Cassandra sighed, “More than anyone has ever loved anybody.”

“And I feel the same way about him.” Cassandra slightly flinched, not letting the words get under her skin, “I’m just sorry it took all of this to truly realize that.”

Slowly, the warrior walked towards the rock, kneeling next to the embodiment of the sun. There was a comforting warmth the woman gave off, one the raven haired woman couldn’t describe. “Look, I know what we both saw down there, but you and I both know, this isn’t something Eugene would ever do.” 

Hazel eyes looked over at jade green ones that didn’t return the look. “I know.” The princess sighed, trying to wrap the words around the awful thoughts and feelings she had felt.

“And you want to hear something I know Rapunzel would never do?” Finally, emerald eyes looked back into the yellowish greens, “Rapunzel would never give up.” Cassandra hadn’t noticed but a smile grew onto her face as she continued to encourage the other, “She’d pick herself up, stop feeling sorry for herself, and she’d fight back with everything she had.”

Together, the women helped each other up as they stood over the vast land, “So what do you say we get out there…”

“And get Eugene back!” The viridescent eyes seemed to shine with determination, causing Pascal to puff his chest out with glee.”

-

Rapunzel, Cassandra, Hookfoot, Pascal and Maximus slowly peeked out from behind the large rocks they used to hide. The two women pulled out telescopes to look around the area better. The entrance was intimidating, a gate keeping everybody out with sharp spikes that dug into the dirt below. The bricks were lightly colored, almost an off white, with dark sapphire bricks to accentuate the white. Lots of people, different shapes and sizes, stood outside the fence.

Rapunzel pushed herself up to see better, accidentally moving close to one of the sharp, dark rocks that covered every spot of land the group had encountered. “Careful, Raps!” Cassandra whisper-shouted so she wouldn’t alert others around, but loud enough to bring caution to the woman beside her, “Remember what happens when you touch one of those.”

“Right...That would be bad.” Rapunzel moved herself away from the dangerous natural force.

The owl woman groaned in frustration as she continued to look through the spyglass, “I was hoping there would be more people here to make it easier to slip by.”

The princess scoffed, “I guess Stalyan doesn’t have many friends.” She accentuated the other woman’s name in disgust, “What kinda name is ‘Stalyan’ anyway? Who names their kid that? What’s her sister’s name?” The woman chuckled at the thought, “Bronco?” 

The warrior looked at the other with annoyance, “Rapunzel, focus. We don’t have time for jealousy.” Pascal had even looked at his friend with an irritated stare.

“Jealous?” Rapunzel scoffed, “No, I am not jealous. You’re jealous.” In response, she earned another odd look from the people next to her, she quickly looked around and saw the faces everybody wore. Quickly looking back into her telescope with anger and embarrassment. 

The blonde continued to look around as Cassandra spoke, “Now, the benefit to only having a few guests is that we might have a chance fighting our way in.” Rapunzel focused on the sharp and violent rock once more, smiling as she did so. “A slim chance, but a chance.”

Cassandra unsheathed her blade, ready to fight, until a freckled hand rested on her forearm. “We may not have to fight. I think I have an idea.” 

“Does this idea require the use of any hooks?” Hookfoot groaned.

The optimist looked back into her telescope, focusing on the blade runner girl, “No, but we will need the help of Vardaros’ little sweetheart.” Vex looked back towards the girl, facepalming and dragging her hand down her face, pulling on her eye to mock the princess.

“Then what’s the plan?” The warrior asked.

“We,” Rapunzel smirked, “Are gonna crash a wedding.”

-

Slowly, the gate lifted, unearthing the sharp spikes from the grass and dirt. People bustled into the building before them, most likely wanting to get this over with. Vex stood behind other adults, pushing a cart covered with a cloth that carried vases of flowers, decorated with small maces.

“Remember what we talked about.” Rapunzel spoke. She had disguised herself in a large leather coat that was accentuated skulls on her shoulders and spikes on the large cloves. She wore a hat with a brim that covered her entire face from view, decorated with two bones crossing each other. “Act normal, and you’ll get the other half when we’re done.”

“I’m good for being stuck at a wedding.” The black haired girl scoffed.

“Yeah...Come to think of it, I’ve actually never been to a wedding before.” The freckled girl chuckled at the thought, “Hmm...If we didn’t have to be in disguise, and it wasn’t so dangerous, and my boyfriend wasn’t marrying another woman, this might have been fun.” The crowd began to move once more. The two began to follow behind the other adults in front of them. Rapunzel zipped the collar of her coat, covering the lower half of her face and Pascal from view.

“Woah, woah, woah. Hold up fellas.” The guard at the door put his arms out, obstructing their view. “What’s this?” His large bear-like hands pointed down towards the flowers.

Vex scoffed once more, “The Baron wanted wedding flowers.” She spoke with an obvious annoyed tone, not wanting to deal with more people in her way.

The man lifted the small maces from the vases, inspecting them. He looked to Vex’s light brown eyes and back to the small objects, chuckling over his ideas. “A battle bouquet. Brilliant!” He smashed the spiked weapon onto one of the vases, breaking it into pieces. As he smacked the glass object a loud groan came from under the table. “What was that?!” The man shouted.

Rapunzel coughed, causing a distraction away from the people hidden away. “What about you? Who are you?” The guard loomed over the disguised princess, trying to intimidate her.

The blonde lowered her voice, trying to get onto the man’s level. “I’m Cobra! Cobra Mc, uh… McBloodpuncher!”

“You’re not on the list.”

“Cobra McBloodpuncher doesn’t do lists!” The two got closer to each other’s faces, trying to one up the other. 

“Then what do you do?” A fly buzzed onto the guard’s large nose, landing right in front of Rapunzel’s emerald eyes. In a flash, Pascal shot his tongue out, catching the bug and surprising the guard.

“Eh?”

Rapunzel went along with the action, “You should see what I do to people.”

The guard gave her an angry look, slowly turning it into a smile and laughter, “You’re alright McBloodpuncher!” Using his bear hands, he patted, more like slapped, the princess’ back, pushing her indoors with Vex, “Why don’t you go on in there, eh? Have yourself a good time. Get some cake.” The princess unzipped the collar, sighing in relief as the two walked with the crowd.

The party was seemingly calm. Torches lit up the area with a warm glow, opposed to the brightness of the stars above. There were tables for guests to visit and buffets for people to eat. Overall, the party was nice and quaint, other than the terrifying circumstances of Eugene marrying another woman and the large, sharp rocks that stuck out from the ground.

Vex led Rapunzel behind the wall she was supposed to deliver the flowers to. “Thank you, Vex.” The princess sighed once more, “That was really--” The younger girl stuck her hand out, asking for her “other half” the woman had promised. “Oh.” 

Quickly, the woman dropped a few coins into the girl’s hand as she walked away, “Thanks.”

Rapunzel walked over towards the cart, about to take the cover off of the table, until Cassandra belted out from underneath, gasping for air. “Why was I the one to get stuck in a box with Captain Foot Odor?! You’ve got enough stink for TWO feet!” 

“How dare you, Miss Viking Breath! What? Do you brush your teeth with onions?” Cassandra looked back towards the hook-footed man with nothing but anger, lifting her sword slightly.

“Okay, guys!” The princess put her gloved hands up, “Guys! Stick to the plan. You two grab our friends…” She leaned over the hedges they stood beside, looking out into the party, “While I cause a distraction.”

Shorty snored as Eugene was lost in thought once more. The man looked from the corroded keys and then back towards his best friend, who actually looked towards him, eyes furrowing in fear. The healthier of the two walked towards the sick, crouching down to be at eye level. “Look, Lance, I’m sorry I got you into this. No matter what, I just want you to know, I love you.” 

Lance smiled, breathing heavily as he tried to stay alive and hold back tears. “I…..I’ve always wanted a cat named Clovis.” He spoke with his swollen tongue giving him a lisp.

Eugene chuckled, and heard Varian do the same. “C-Clovis? It does have a fun ring to it. I’m glad we could-- Glad we could share this moment.” The coffee-haired man saw his friend's eyes close, falling back into unconsciousness. Even Shorty had looked slightly worried. 

Varian looked solemnly at the healthy and sick men beside him. He saw how gentle and king Eugene was with Lance, and he saw that the man really did care. Though, something inside of him still told him not to look too into it, in case it was a trap.

The blue donned man stood up, “Wait here, guys. I’ve got to do this one thing.” 

The alchemist quickly looked up, shifting his position and keeping a grasp on his cloak. It felt like the only thing keeping him grounded at the moment. “Wh- What are you planning?” 

Eugene turned back towards the younger boy, softly smiling to reassure him, “Trust me, kid. I’m gonna get us all out of here.” The man reached his arm around one of the bars, keys in hand. He tried out each item in his hand, trying to open the caged door. After a few minutes, the door swung open, and Eugene was gone.

Varian put his hand on Lance’s shoulder and looked back towards the open door. Eugene told them to stay in here, and he needed to help Lance in any way he could...Varian looked back towards the door, furrowing his brows in concern. Shorty snapped the boy out of thought as he chuckled, “He’s doing great!”

-

The musicians began to tune their instruments while the guests chatted amongst themselves. Antony pushed a large marble vase with an arrangement of flowers towards the altar. The group walked around the hedges, trying to keep away but not call for suspicion. 

The blonde stopped in front of the marble swans that were kept in the entryway. She groaned at the sight, “Oh, come on! Really? Ugh!” She put her gloved hands onto her hips and spit out her tongue, “I don’t usually make fun of other people’s tastes, but that’s just tacky!” Throwing out her hands in a fit of jealousy, “I bed Stalyan picked it out.”

“Rapunzel!” Cassandra pulled the woman out of the way, whisper-shouting at her once again. 

Slowly, Eugene walked towards the altar, waiting to get this all over with. He groaned and kept a frown on his face, showing he didn’t wish to be here in the first place. Rapunzel, Hookfoot and Cassandra stood behind the buffet, watching from afar. The princess gasped, “Oh, look! There he is.” 

The musicians began to play their wedding piece, queuing the ceremony to begin. The trio looked towards the walkway, seeing Stalyan and her father, The Baron, keeping their arms wrapped around each other. The brunette held onto bright pink flowers, keeping a tight hold of them. It sent chills down the princess and ex-convict’s spines as they saw her.

Her heels clacked on the carpet, getting louder as she walked forward. Hazelnut eyes looked down to the ground, slowly rising to meet violet eyes in front of him. “Let’s get on with it. Shall we?” The Baron smiled, until he was interrupted by another voice.

“Funny!” Hookfoot, Cassandra, and Rapunzel walked towards the center of the walkway, “I was just thinking the same thing!” The princess threw her hat off, showing her real identity. 

“Blondie!” Eugene beamed.

“Eugene!” Rapunzel reciprocated the same action. 

The Baron walked up from behind the brown haired man, giving the look to the guards to get ready to fight the intruders. They unsheathed their swords that were kept at their sides. Eugene called out for his girlfriend, “Blondie, you shouldn’t be here.”

Stalyan groaned, “Yeah, move along, Blondie.” She practically spat out the endearing nickname the man beside her gave the woman. 

“Hey, Eugene, just listen, please.” The princess put her hands up, “I may not know what my future holds, but I do know that you are meant to be in it.” She sighed with nothing but love in her eyes and words, “I love you.” The crowd gasped from the sudden exchange as her boyfriend sighed, dreamily. “And now that I’ve spilled my heart out to a room full of hostile strangers, feeling a little self-conscious.” 

Stalyan shoved the arrangement of pink flowers into the man-she-was-supposed-to-be-marrying’s face. “Well, that was lovely. Are we done here?”

“Not even close.” The princess threw off the large and overbearing coat, “I’m just warming up.” Bare feet slammed against the grass as she stormed over to the razor-sharp rocks that struck out from the Earth, “Cass! Hookfoot! Brace yourself!” She released her hair from the beads, “It’s about to get rough in here!” The princess’ friends hid behind the buffet table for protection as she slowly leaned forward and grasped a hold of the mysterious rocks.

Everybody stood there in silence, muttering to each other. “Uh...Uh….Rough in here!” Rapunzel tried to communicate with the rocks once more.

“Impressive.” Stalyan groaned.

“Uh, come on.” The embodiment of the sundrop rubbed her long locks onto the black rocks, trying to activate them somehow. She whispered, “Come on, come on, come on.” Until she stood back, trying to defuse the embarrassment she held, “Okay, yeah! That played out differently in my head.”

“Get them outta here.” The Baron pointed his large paws at the woman, sending his goons to attack. Rapunzel lifted her frying pan as Cassandra and Hookfoot unsheathed their swords. 

“Hey! Leave them alone!” Eugene shouted from Anthony’s grip. The Weasle tied him together with rope, unable to move his arms from his sides. 

“Tick-tick, Rider.” The Baron spoke with his scruffy and low voice. Eugene turned to his left, seeing Lance try to keep himself standing. How had he gotten out? Who pulled him out of the cell?

“Guys! They poisoned Lance!” The hazel haired man shouted from the ropes as Lance chuckled out a “Hi”, putting his weight on the healthy man beside him. 

Cassandra sighed, leaning her back against Rapunzel’s as they fought, “Okay, Raps, if you have a Plan ‘B’ now would be a great time to pitch it.”

Before anyone else could speak, a loud, and almost deafening, “BOOM” came from the wall. The bricks fell, causing dust and debris to fly with the smell of potent chemicals. A low and mutated voice came from the smog, “You will unhand them at once!”

Everybody looked around, trying to locate who was speaking to them. In a flash, sticky goo landed onto some of the goons’ feet, keeping them trapped in the solution. “I said release them!” The horrifying voice demanded, yet nobody moved. 

Out of the smog came a large figure, slowly growing smaller, as they showed off who they were, “Now!” The boy demanded, lifting his mask. 

Rapunzel and Eugene shouted, confusion obvious on their faces, “Varian?!” Cassandra wasn’t sure what to do, groan because there was no way these guards would be intimidated, or be shocked at the sight of Varian breaking out of prison. 

Eugene began to speak up, “Kid, you can’t be out here, it’s way too dangerous-”

“No!” Varian angrily shouted, immediately turning to a softer voice, “Eugene, listen! I do not fully trust you all just yet, but I know you’re trying to help each other, including me. And it’s only right if I do the same.” The alchemist pushed back his cape, showing his light blue vest and rest of his outfit much better, “And even if it takes fight a mob of angry goons, I want to trust you all, so trust me!” 

The group nods, determined smiles growing on their faces. The tied up man shouts towards the others, “Guys, we need that antidote!” He turned towards The Baron, showing that he had it in his possession.

“Never, Rider.” The man boomed towards the younger. 

Rapunzel looked over to Pascal as she whispers, “Time for a new plan.” She stuck her fingers into her mouth, blowing out air into a whistle, calling out their stallion. Quickly, Max bolts towards the sound that called out to him. 

The blonde turned behind her, defending herself from the swords that came her way with her frying pan. She whipped stay hairs around the sword-weilder’s ankle, tripping the male in the process. 

Maximus leaped over the walls and hedges, running directly towards the scene, knocking a man over on his way. Hookfoot, the one who was fighting the goon, called out towards the horse, “Max! That one was mine!” Though the mount didn’t listen, knocking over the good the princess had been fighting, and one more that tried to encounter her.

The white stallion didn’t get to attack for long, as two hoodlums came from opposite angles, tying down the horse as he neighed in frustration. Rapunzel called out in shock, “Max!” 

Varain looked away from the thugs he had been throwing chemical bombs at and focused on the horse. Quickly, he ran on his feet in the stallion’s direction, shouting, “Don’t worry, I got this!” In moments, the enemies that had taken Maximus down were stuck in place. The alchemist ran over to Maximus, trying to calm him down so he would be able to free him quicker, though the goons tied the ropes extremely tight, nearly impossible to break loose. As the boy tried to free his horse friend, he had to turn around to fight off the hoodlums that continued to try and attack.

Rapunzel and Cassandra pressed their backs against each other, wielding their weapons of frying pan and sword as they attempted to fight off the mob around them. The princess cleared her throat, “Sorry, Cass. You were so right about being on the road.” Freckled arms lifted, deflecting a broad blade from harming her, “It is not all fun and games!”

The other woman laughed, “Are you kidding?!” She slammed her weapon against one similar, “This is fun!” As she finished, Cassandra lifted her fist in the air, slamming it down into another good’s nose, knocking them out.

The girls moved closer together, if it weren’t for the deathly fight of their lives, they would have been much more content with the touch. Hookfoot was thrown into their inner circle, defeated on the ground. As the two women looked towards him with worry, the raven haired woman’s sword was knocked out of her gloved hands. Rapunzel lifted her hair, hoping she’d be ready on the spot to attack and possibly defend her friends.

“You might want to give up now.” A sinister voice mocked the princess. Anthony stood with two swords in hand, ready to attack. The three inside the circle caved in slightly, looking around in an attempt to scavenge something to turn the tables. Cassandra turned her head slightly, seeing Hookfoot’s hook shining under the moonlight.

The warrior grinned, “You’re not getting off the hook that easy.” She grabbed the man’s leg, parrying and fighting with the metal hook attached to him. 

“I thought I said ‘no hooks!’” Hookfoot yelled as he was slightly dragged on the grass and dirt. He lifted a blade, fighting and blocking attacks from his low position. 

Rapunzel turned towards Anthony, grinning with glory as she lifted her hair, “Now get out of my way.” There was no weakness in her voice, and if there was nobody had said a word.

“Oh, I’m not going anywhere.” The one-eyed man scowled. The blonde looked towards her boyfriend, wrapped and tied in rope, and his best friend, sickly groaning on his shoulder as he fell towards the ground. She saw him panicking as he knelt down beside him.

“Oh, Lance! Lance, wake up, buddy! Lance! Say something! Please!” Eugene had pleaded, hovering above the sick man.

Lance opened his red and puffy eyes, looking directly at his best friend with a smile, “Clovith…” His tongue had swollen more and more each second, “You grew a goatee.” The man chuckled at his statement and immediately fell back to the marble floors.

“No, no, no, no. Swollen tongue. We’re running out of time!” Eugene clammered. He felt a force lifting him up, away from his best friend. 

Eugene turned behind him as he was forced to stand. A sly, yet frustrated, feminine voice spoke, “Well, this party stinks. Alright, Rider, let’s get outta here.-”

Blonde hair wrapped around the man where the rope lied, “His name…” Rapunzel pulled with force, though Stalyan held onto the strings of rope, keeping the man directly between the two, “...is Eugene.”

“His name is Rider, and he belongs with me!” The brunette yanked with all her might, trying to keep “Flynn Rider” near her.

“How would you know? You had to poison his best friend to get him to marry you!” The princess called out as if she was spitting poison from her own lips.

The blue donned man chuckled, “That is a good point, Rapunzel.”

“In fairness,” Stalyan continued, “That was my dad’s idea!” Tan hands pulled back with rope while freckled hands pulled in the opposite with hair. 

Eugene was almost getting nauseous from the odd directions he was going in, “Ladies! There’s probably a better way to work this out.” He spoke in a strained tone.

The princess spoke with nothing but determination, “We’ll work this out as soon as we get back to the caravan!” As she pulled, Pascal leaped off of her shoulder and crawled onto her golden locks. 

The three watched in silence and confusion as to what the chameleon had planned. Sticky hands stuck onto strands of hair and on the fibers of the rope. The reptile got closer and closer towards the brunette until he stood right in front of her claw-like hands.

The cunning woman grinned as she mocked the creature, “And just what are you gonna do, frog?” There were seconds of silence as the woman almost laughed towards the trial of the reptile, until he startled her with his tongue smacking her nose.

Stalyan released the rope with a loud yelp, flinging Eugene in the princess’ direction with an, “I love you!” coming from the sundrop’s boyfriend. She smiled at the man for mere seconds, turning towards her reptilian friend and shouting, “We need that antidote, Pascal!” 

Varian looked over towards the princess as he tried to untie the tight knots that trapped Maximus. The boy turned his direction from the woman towards his raccoon friend beside him. 

His furry friend hadn’t done much trying to help Maximus due to their rivalry from Rapunzel and his first meeting, but he had helped trick up The Baron’s goons, so the young alchemist couldn’t be too angry. 

The two smiled in each other’s direction, almost reading each other’s minds. The freckled boy shouted, “Ruddiger, go help Pascal!” Seconds before the boy spoke, the raccoon was already off. 

Rapunzel turned towards two of The Baron’s henchmen that ran directly towards her. She looked towards the table in between the three of them, wrapping her hair around the leg of the table that held the wedding cake. As the goons got closer, she pulled on the peg, causing the surface to fling food towards the two wielding swords. The table flew all the way towards the altar, almost hitting Shorty, who stood watching all the food fall.

A cooked chicken leg landed right in front of his feet. The man shouted with nothing but glee, “Hooray! Sky chicken!”

Rapunzel fixed her posture, looked towards Eugene as the two smiled at each other with love and admiration. The two were just happy to see each other safe and sound. Cassandra pulled the princess out of her thoughts as she called out, “Raps! Time to roll out that Plan ‘C.’”

The woman shouted with worry, “I don’t have a Plan ‘C.’ I thought these rocks would react like they did back in Corona!” The princess and most of her friends backed up towards each other as Varian yanked on the rope, trying to get their white stallion free from his prison.

A mysterious voice spoke up, mouth full of cake. “They’re not reacting because they found the sundrop.” The group turned towards the voice, finding Adira leaning against a pillar, food in hand. The woman continued, “That would be you.”

Cassandra groaned, “Great. Weird shadow lady.”

“I’m not that weird!” Adira beamed, startling the raven haired woman in front of her. The two pulled out blades and began to attack once more. 

The half and half woman ran towards Eugene, dark sword out as if she would harm him. The blue donned man shouted with fear, “Wait, wait, wait, wait! I’m with the good guys!” Until he was slashed on the back, being freed from the rope and bound him. “Wow! Thank you, tall person.” The two smiled at each other with appreciation and gratitude, running off to continue the battle. Eugene turned towards two goons covered in all black, knocking them out with his fists as he caught one of their swords that flew into the air. “Yes! Yes!”

Adira ran towards Maximus and Varian, cutting the ropes and freeing the white stallion from the cord-like rope. Max whinnied in appreciation, causing Adira and Varian to chuckle. The young alchemist looked towards the woman, noticing a symbol of a circle and three prongs sticking out from the top right. He looked down at his cloak and saw a similar symbol on his outfit. Before he could ask any questions, the warrior ran off. 

Varian looked up at Maximus who, without a warning, lifted the boy up, onto his back. The two chased off any underlying goons together.

Eugene felt something eyeing him down. He turned around, only to find The Baron standing at the altar. “You got something I want, Baron.” The younger man shouted with determination.

“Come and get it,” Bear-like hands lifted a golden sword from his side, “Rider.” The two clashed as the sound of the swords clanged together. It was nearly ear-piercing to listen to as the men grunted. Pascal took this moment as a distraction, leaping onto the Bear-Man’s jacket and reaching into his collar. The Baron noticed the reptile, throwing him over to Lance’s hardly breathing body. 

Eugene gasped from the sudden toss of his friend, getting the sword knocked from his grasp. The Baron grabbed his collar, lifting him off of the ground and throwing him back down. The older man walked closer and stepped on the ex-convicts ribs, putting more and more pressure on them. The man on the ground groaned, trying not to show pain. 

“I should’ve done this from the beginning.” The blonde man lifted his left hand, showing the ruby ring. He tapped the top, opening the cage and releasing the spider from its personal prison. 

Ruddiger looked from Pascal, who had rested on Lance’s chest, and over towards Eugene. He had to get that antidote if Pascal hadn’t already. In a flash, the raccoon ran towards the two fighting men. With his paws, he grabbed a hold of the spider that hovered above Eugene, tossing it directly into The Baron’s face. The spider, after landing on a solid surface, crawled down the man’s neck and under his clothing. “Oh! Ah! No! No! No!” The bear-like man cried out in fear, smacking his clothing in an attempt to kill the venomous monster.

Ruddiger leapt off of the man, running towards his chameleon friend. Eugene pushed on the floor, backing away from The Baron. Everybody witnessed the boss shout as he had been bitten by the spider. “No!” He shouted, pulling on his collar, looking at the green splotches on his neck. “The anti-venom. Where is the anti-venom?” He cried out. 

Everybody turned towards the reptile, who stood next to Lance’s face, pouring the contents of the medication into his mouth with a smirk. He tossed away the bottle and jumped onto the man’s chest, waiting for a reaction. 

Lips smacked together as he woke up, lifting his head slightly from the ground. “Clovis..” The lisp had depleted as his tongue began to relieve from swelling, “You shaved your goatee…” Though his eyes had still been puffy and skin still had splotches, Lance was on a road to recovery.

“If I’m going down, then I’m taking you with me!” The Baron shouted, lifting his sword yet again. 

“Hey, Baron!” Rapunzel shouted, slamming her frying pan, that was tied to her hair, across his head, knocking him out. The sundrop embodiment pulled the pan back, blowing dust off of it for a dramatic and heroic effect. 

“Blondie!” Eugene shouted as he ran towards his heroic girlfriend. 

“Eugene! Oh!” Rapunzel cried out, bringing the man she loved into a hug.

Cassandra helped Lance get back onto his feet as she wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She gave the man a worried, but reassuring look. He still was slightly spotty and light headed, which was to be expected. She made sure to take note that the man needed to rest. 

Stalyan pulled her father’s large arms around her shoulders, bringing him to his feet as he groaned. The two began to exit the area, admitting their own defeat. “We’ll find the anti-venom.” the brunette snarled, “And then I will settle this, Rider.”

Eugene and Rapunzel stood hand in hand with pure confidence and love, “The name’s Eugene.” He chuckled, earning a death glare from his ex-fiance as she walked off.

Maximus chuffed with a sword between his teeth as he scared off left over criminals. Varian laughed menacingly from atop the horse, “Yeah! Go on! Get out! Scram!” The boy spoke as if his words were the things bringing fears into the other people. 

Anthony crawled out from under a table cloth, frowning and running off without a word to say.

Adira slammed her sword into the ground in front of the person who had been guarding the gate earlier that night. Slowly, she had unearthed the blade and pointed it at the man’s head, signifying for him to leave at the immediate moment. As the man left, Adira quickly stabbed her sword into the top layer of the celebratory wedding cake. Taking it as a thank you, she left the area for Rapunzel and her friends.

The princess looked towards her boyfriend, a smile on her face, “I wanted to talk about when you asked to marry me.” For a moment, her eyes fell to the ground in hesitation of the topic, “I didn’t quite know what to say.” Out of habit, the princess began to play with her long locks of hair. She looked behind Eugene, over towards Pascal, her best friend, who only smiled with reassurance. The princess smiled back as a thank you, “But I do now. Eugene, will you-”

“No. That’s not necessary.” The hazelnut haired man smiled softly.

Rapunzel’s eyes furrowed in confusion, “What?”

“You’re finally free and out in the real world. I understand now that making a lifetime commitment is probably the furthest thing from your mind.” The man kept a loving gaze on the woman in front of him, “In other words, now’s just not the time.”

“Oh.” The princess felt like she shrank, but knew his words came from a place of love, “Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re right, you’re right. Now is not the time.” Rapunzel took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, “That is totally what I was about to say...I’m really glad you feel the same.”

The two stood in silence for just a few seconds before Eugene continued to speak, “But if the time does come, we need to have a serious talk about the ceremony decorations beforehand. I mean, did you see that swan?” 

“I know, right?!” Rapunzel chuckled, “So tacky!”

“Tack…? No, that swan is aw--” Eugene tried to defend the swan figured, but the princess only smiled and shook her head. “Awesomely tacky. I mean, what?! Outrageous!” Eugene laughed along with his sunshine. The two faced each other, slowly holding each other’s hands and leaning in for a quick and chaste kiss.

Maximus carried Varian over towards Lance and Cassandra, who had begun a conversation, “This may be the fever talking,” Lance asked, “But was there a tall, angelic enchantress with a sword here a second ago?” The man spoke magically when describing the woman who had helped fight alongside the group.

“Yeah!” Cassandra chirped up as she turned towards Varian, “What’s with the matching symbols?” Her tone dropped a little, not meaning to come off rude but to show that she is certainly confused about everything.

Varian’s eyebrows raised from the question, “I saw that too!” He brought his gloved hand towards his chin as he tapped in thought, “I’m not sure...This cloak was my father’s and he never spoke about his past, other than memories with my mother...He always had told me that he just ‘didn’t remember.’”

“Well...Where did Weirdo go?” The three looked around, unable to find Adira anywhere. It was as if she had disappeared in thin air.

-

Rapunzel slowly moved her hand towards the violent rocks that she sat next to. Quickly, she tapped her finger on the cold surface of the odd objects, only to slowly wrap her hands around and slide her hands against them. There was no reaction to her touch.

“Odd..” Varian huffed, scribbling down notes on scraps of paper. “When...you fought against me the rocks shot out just by you being around them…” The alchemist quietly spoke, just loud enough for the princess next to him to hear.

“What changed?” The girl asked a question, not sure who it was directed to. 

“Well,” Varian slightly cleared his throat, “That woman...Adira? She said that the rocks aren’t reacting because they already found the sundrop, you, and so they may not need to react to your force?” As the boy scribbled thoughts down, he began to grow frustrated, “Ugh! It doesn’t make sense!” 

“Hey...Lots of this doesn’t make any sense, to any of us. We’re all gonna slowly figure things out, and get answers..” The blonde softly spoke as she looked at the younger boy, who tried to give a smile back. The two felt the awkward ice between them still to this day.

Rapunzel turned back towards the open road as she asked another question, “Where is it taking us, Pascal?” The chameleon squeaked in response, not sure of what to say.

“To fulfill your destiny.” A voice behind the three spoke up. Quickly, they leaped to their feet, only to find out that it was Adira. 

“Adira.” The blonde chuckled as she looked around, “Who are you?”

“Look, I am a friend.” The woman held out a roll of scroll towards the magical princess, “And I am here to make sure you get to the end of this journey you’re embarking on.” Rapunzel softly took the script and unrolled it to see what was printed onto the paper. She flattened it against a rock as Varian leaned over to hold the corners of the paper. Rapunzel pulled out the one that Varian used to hold in the graphic, the two noticing that the two pieces used to be together.

“LIsten, I don’t have all the answers, but now that I’ve seen all that I have, I have no doubt. These rocks were looking for you, and you must follow them....to the Dark Kingdom.” 

Rapunzel’s brows furrowed. She had been getting more questions than answers and it almost drove her nuts. She felt the reassuring touch of her boyfriend's hand rest on her shoulder as he began to sing once more, “We’re gonna walk down that path, and over the rise.” The blue-donned man gave a reassuring nod towards the half and half woman. 

Adira turned her look towards the young alchemist and softly smiled. She slowly turned away, walking back towards the caravan. Varian decided to let Rapunzel and Eugene have their moment alone, walking alongside Adira. 

“Guess we’ll discover just where our destiny lies.” Rapunzel continued to sing with her boyfriend as the two reached out for the other’s hand.

“Who cares how dark it’ll be, ‘cause I’ve got you,”

“You’ve got me.”

The two began to unite their voices together as they ran back towards the caravan, “So let’s go see where this whole thing’s going! Next stop, anywhere!”

“Headin’ where I’m supposed to be with you close to me!” The princess sang along as Varian stood beside Fidella, latching the saddle to fit the horse, Cassandra smiled as she helped the boy. Lance and Hookfoot peeked out from the top of the caravan, even Shorty popped out of a window the mobile home had. looking out at the open world ahead of them. Everybody turned their gaze towards the couple in front of them. 

“Next stop, anywhere!” The two sang together as Eugene took the lead, “Facing’ every jeopardy linked inseparably!” The princess gasped a hold of the ex-convicts hand, leading him towards the white stallion. Eugene helped his girlfriend onto Maximus as he joined behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Next stop, anywhere!”

“Though it may get rough for us,”

“We’re enough for us!”

The two joined together once more as the caravan began to go on track, “Next stop, anywhere!”

“And the world is waiting!” Rapunzel boomed as they crossed a bridge built of bricks. Underneath the bridge was a stream of water interfered by the ominous rocks.

“I feel it waiting!” Eugene sang out as they drove through an area that was bare and dry. Owl flew above in the skies above, watching to see how far the land stretched.

“With new adventures to share…” Rapunzel smiled bright as she sang again. The sun had been starting to set behind them as they reached closer towards their destination. 

The next morning they began to continue down paths, hills and see more clouds than most people could count.

“Everywhere..”

“Everywhere..”

Eugene and Rapunzel sighed together as they finished off the song in harmony, “Everywhere..”

The group couldn’t see it, but Adira had been watching from the hills, making sure the princess and her friends did indeed trek towards the Dark Kingdom with succession. She would make sure, even if she must fight others she knows and loves along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got extremely excited to write the Varian Breakout IT WAS SO FUN I GOT SO HAPPY

**Author's Note:**

> Some basic things I want to share really quick: I do plan on seeing this to the end and I do want to promise but, I don't want to ruin my promise one day. So please, bare with me, since these chapters take a long time to get out and work on. I don't have a schedule but if you wish to know my progress you can dm me on my social medias and ask! I love answering! I hope you all stick with me until the very end of this crazy ride.
> 
> Twitter: @honeyhueym @sunmosibs  
> Insta: @honeyhueym  
> Tumblr: @honeyhueym


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